Sliver of Bliss, World of Pain
by Link-luvr
Summary: Sequel to Souls, Swords and Strife.New Problem, New Friends, New World. Review please.
1. Default Chapter

Sliver of Bliss, World of Pain

Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda, Soul Calibur or Resident Evil. Maybe a copy of the games and a strange obsession with them but...on with the show!

A.N: I'M BACK! MEHEHEHEHEHEHEH! You (unfortunately) can't get rid of me so easily. Ok, so. I have decided to turn this into a trilogy, so there's one more after this...depending on popular demand...and this one is based more on Resident Evil. There's also a fair amount of gore...ENJOY!

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Prologue

'_It would be a while before any of this gathering would have to fight side by side again:_

_Hyrule, for the most part, was at peace and its citizens lived peacefully in the country's golden days, with their Hero, Princess and Goddesses watching over them._

_Siegfried continued to guard the Demonic blade of Soul Edge, but its power was depleting with every day it was not wielded and every day, Siegfried grew stronger and more independent of the sword than ever before and rumour was that it was eventually destroyed, though no-one other than Siegfried knows if that is true._

_Yunsung was to marry Seung Mina, eventually anyway, and was still as irritating and childish as ever._

_Raphael rebuilt his life with Amy, his step-daughter, at his side and they eventually managed to gain a solid lifestyle._

_Maxi spent his time with Kilik and Xianghua, irritating them for much of that time._

_Leon, after rejoining his family and friends, began to help the cause of bringing down the Umbrella Corporation, with Chris, Claire, Jill, Carlos, Rebecca and Billy. The group also managed to get rid of the incessant interfering of Albert Wesker, Chris's enemy, though no-one was ever quite sure if he was killed or if he just disappeared._

_Despite the lack of wars and violence in their lives, the warriors kept close together and would be there at any given time to call on if it was needed. _

_The warriors formed together, not just as alliances, but friends, for all eternity.'_

Well, this is how things eventually turned out. But dark events follow dark events. It was in fact 2 years later that the Soul Calibur people would visit Hyrule, under rather different circumstances to the ones that they would've liked.

A figure shrouded in darkness stood in a small laboratory, his back to the door behind him. His black clothing could not be seen against the darkness, the only thing that gave away his presence being his pale skin and blonde hair that caught the occasional sliver of light from outside the room.

Had anyone been able to see in the dark, they would have seen him staring intently at a gurney that had a sleeping person strapped to it. He would occasionally glance away to a set of tubes, filled with silver liquid, and smirk at them, before turning his attention back to the person.

Of course, no-one could see this man and his subject in the darkness of the room, and the rows of glass tubes with silver liquid, only the man himself.

And the now awakening subject.

As the person on the gurney opened their eyes, the man standing over them smirked at his triumph, before removing the dark glasses that covered his eyes, revealing the alien reptilian slitted pupils, and the red rimmed yellow irises.

"Hello," the man greeted coldly, gazing down at the other man in front of him, his voice was smooth, flat, emotionless.

The man strapped to the 'bed' stared up at the blonde, eyes narrowing towards him immediately. At this the blonde man sneered as if something had been confirmed.

"Welcome to the world."

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Hope you liked that! If you didn't flame me and keep my feet warm. PLEASE REVIEW...my English teacher liked this...SO YOU SHOULD TOO! 


	2. Chapter 2

A.N: Alright, thank you to the THREE people who reviewed. Just, three. All it takes is a little click and maybe a word or two but no. You can FLAME me if you want, I don't care, just stop me from getting lonely.

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Chapter 1

'_Red. Blood. He was surrounded by it, breathing it, smelling it, tasting it. Swimming in it, sinking in it…drowning in it._

_And pain. An ocean of blood and anguish and agony. He couldn't escape it, could barely stay conscious in it, but there was someone, diving through the scarlet suffering…to save him, perhaps._

_But as the person reached, they were deformed and grinning and suddenly, killing him'_

The previously sleeping figure rolled over in his bed, groaning to himself. The dream had plagued him for nights now, and unfortunately, it was probably a premonition, his dreams usually were. Sighing he rolled over onto his back and stared up at the beech coloured ceiling, putting a hand to his forehead and wiping away the sweat, pushing it into his brown hair.

Leaning back he closed his eyes again and rested against the pillow at his back. It was these moments that made him hate even more that he could sense evil, especially since the current events were particularly malevolent. He listened for a moment to the quiet outside, enjoying the near silence, the only sound being the wind and a few birds, one chirped a little loudly and he cracked one eye open to see it sitting on the window frame. He smiled a little and closed his eye, he would have to get up in a few minutes, but….he was too comfortable right now, despite the dream.

A distant scream suddenly shattered that though, and he dashed out of bed, running to the window and looking out, brown eyes searching desperately for the reason.

He located it soon enough. The small village, just beyond the 'house', was swamped with people frantically running towards their houses, scuttling to safety; in the centre of the commotion was a humanoid figure. One that had probably once been human…it wasn't anymore though.

Turning around he grabbed a pair of pants from the chair, pulling them on hastily. Slipping on his red cloak and boots, he grabbed the rod that stood in the corner and ripped the door open, dashing down the stairs and out the front door.

A minute later, he was standing in the centre of the village, looking at the figure who had reached the creature before him. He walked over to him.

"Another one?" he asked

"Yeah, how many is that now?"

"From this village, about ten….ten too many if you ask me"

"Hmmm" the other man frowned at the creature lying, dead, at his feet. "There's something seriously wrong here, Kilik"

Kilik snorted, and looked over to his companion. "That's an understatement"

He didn't get a reply. "Maxi?"

"Yeah?"

"We need to find out what's behind this, even if it means setting off again"

"I know,"

Kilik glanced at Maxi, concerned. Ever since these deaths had started, he had gone unusually quiet, something no-one expected from the usually chipper pirate.

"I think it's time we called everyone together again" Maxi commented, kneeling down to look at the former human. "Is it me, or does this look incredibly familiar"

"Maxi, all the people who have been turned into these things look like this"

"….What I mean is this" he pointed to a lump on the arm of the body, it resembled a large, yellow eye "Very similar to Demon Sword, don't you think?"

Kilik half-smiled at Maxi's terming, he could come out with the strangest things, and only he could get away with it. He had several terms for Soul Edge ranging from 'Demon Sword' to 'Freaky Swordy Eye Thing', although Demon Sword was his usual one. He didn't, however, dare even to think about mentioning any of them in front of Siegfried.

"I've never seen one so clear before" Kilik commented

"Which means that whatever is causing this, freaky sword or otherwise, is getting stronger"

"People can only mutate when touching Soul Edge though, and Siegfried has that under close guard. He wouldn't let anyone near it."

"Unless something happened. Which is unlikely, we only contacted him a week ago. So it has to be something else, similar"

Maxi looked down at the body, grabbing a piece of cloth and guarding his hand with it, before gingerly turning it over.

The once human, was hideously deformed, ragged rips covering it, and teeth emerging from them. The skin had turned brown, black and green, and was covered in blood. One of the eyelids of the face had either rotted away, or been pulled off, leaving the raw, red eyeball exposed. The back was covered in thin black and dark red lines, spilling their way up to the neck and going underneath the remaining black hair of the former man.

"Get a sheet, we have to cover this over and move it away" Kilik frowned.

Maxi nodded his head and jogged to a small building in the corner of the village. He disappeared inside for a minute and shortly came back out, white sheet in hand. Laying it across the body, he gently pulled the body back over. He grabbed one end of the sheet and Kilk grabbed the other, lifting the makeshift stretcher up, and carrying it to a small shed, where the other bodies had been placed. Pulling the sheet back over it, Maxi straightened and walked away, Kilik by his side.

Maxi stood in the forest, glancing up at the canopy, white light filtering through. It had been two years since he, Siegfried, Yunsung and Raphael had visited Hyrule and Link. He hadn't heard from the Hylians since, and he was started to get a little worried over their lack of activity. He would have to go back to Hyrule sometime soon, and visit Link, Liam and Zelda. He suspected that Leon had gone back to his world after they had departed.

Sighing he turned and made his way back to the house. That was the only reason he was distant and quiet, he was just missing his friends, Xianghua and everyone, not just Link. Perhaps with the events, they could get together, even if it was just to sort this out.

A sudden sharp 'kee' made him stop, and he turned to see a black hawk swoop towards him. It slowed and landed on his shoulder and extended its leg. Attached, was a small, rolled up piece of paper, he smiled and removed it. It was a short message from Siegfried, he and Kilik had been contacting him since these events had started. People were mutating into monsters and attacking villages and towns, killing their people. Those who were attacked, but survived, soon turned into a monster too. The problem was, no one knew how to stop this. It had started a few months ago, and it was affecting the whole world.

He unrolled the paper and read the scrawled, bold handwriting that spidered across the paper.

'_Soul Edge has been acting a little unusually lately. The evil that radiates from it seems to have increased, but I'm unsure as to why. People here are mutating slowly, but it doesn't seem to affect me.'_

Maxi rolled his eyes, he hadn't thought that Siegfried might be affected; it would probably take a lot to make a difference to him.

He looked towards the house that he had just walked to, to see Kilik sitting on the steps that led to the wooden structure.

"He's written back?"

Maxi nodded and handed the letter to him. He watched quietly as Kilik's brown eyes travelled over the paper. Finally he snorted and crumpled the paper up

"Of course it isn't doing anything to him; he's practically immune to it"

"That's what I thought"

"We should tell him we need to all get together and discuss this"

"Yeah, send Raven back"

Kilik nodded and grabbed a small piece if paper from off to the side, and a quill he had nearby. He wrote a small note on it and whistled. Seconds later, a black raven swooped down and he tied the note to its leg.

"Siegfried" was all he said, and the bird took flight again.

A few days later, the men got their response.

"_Alright, we meet at my cathedral, by 12:00pm next Friday. I'll try to send a letter to everyone in Europe, you work on Asia. I don't care how you get here within a week, just do it!"_

Maxi snorted. "How the hell do we get from China to Germany in a week?"

Kilik shrugged "We have to do it either way. Give Raven a few hours to recover, we borrow some horses and move out tonight. We can take the birds with us and send the messages along the way"

Maxi nodded "I'll go into town and see if I can get our horses" looking at the younger man, he said "are you going to tell the villagers?"

"No, they'll go mad if they know we're leaving" Kilik looked up, "Go on, I'll see if I can find any food, and get some from the shops if we need any extra"

Maxi smiled, "You know, if we do return here, they'll kill us anyway, for leaving in the first place"

"But at least we'll have saved them"

"True"

Kilik watched the pirate walk away, and then went inside the house.

It was about 11:00pm when the two men began to set off, skirting around the village and making their way to the main trail that was about five miles away. Once they were there, they would rest the horses for a minute and then press on, they had a long way to go, and they really couldn't afford to waste time.

They reached the main road in just under an hour and slid off the horses, stiffly. Maxi grunted as his feet hit the floor and stumbled over to the side of the road, under a tree to a small pool of water. He wasn't really comfortable riding a horse, he hadn't done it for two years, hadn't needed to. Kilik, on the other hand, seemed perfectly comfortable, even seeming to be enjoying himself.

"I can't believe that you're happy to be riding a horse"

Kilik grinned at him "I'm merely happy to be out on the open road again. It's been a long time since we've done any travelling, besides, I thought you would too."

"I prefer standing on the deck of a ship, having a smooth ride, to straddling an animal's back, and feeling each and every uncomfortable little jolt" Maxi whinged

Kilik shrugged and moved to join Maxi "You haven't been on a ship for nine years now, and yet you still call yourself a pirate"

"Once a pirate, always a pirate…besides, the memory of standing on the deck of the old girl is enough. That will never leave me…the salty air, the deep blue sea, the azure sky…"

"The throwing up over the side" Kilik cut in. Maxi glared and swatted at him. Kilik grinned again "Sorry, but I never was that fond of ships"

Maxi rolled his eyes and stretched "Besides," Kilik continued "Think of this as an adventure…we can have races along the road"

"How old are you, Kilik?"

"25…I am allowed to act like a three year old sometimes"

"You're usually the more mature; it seems that role has been reversed"

"Aw, is that what this sudden quietness is about? The fact that you're turning thirty in May, grandpa?" Kilik smirked and sidled away to his horse

"Come here you little twerp!" Maxi yelled, mounting his horse and galloping after Kilik, who was already moving along the road.

Kilik glanced behind him and smirked slightly, he knew that little 'turning thirty' quip would get Maxi to move.

The days moved by in a blur to Maxi and Kilik, blending into one another. They barely stopped riding, save to give the horses a chance to breathe, and for the travellers themselves to eat and drink. They had taken to sleeping on horseback, one keeping the horses moving, while the other rested. Maxi tended to stay awake more, still hating travelling on horseback; he couldn't wait to get to the cathedral in Germany.

The constant riding took its toll on the two men, leaving them stiff and sore when they finally arrived. Maxi stumbled off his horse as soon as they were just outside the village, and stretched before limping like a cripple for a short distance. Kilik on the other hand, was still as comfortable as ever, or so it seemed. Leading the horses to a nearby stable, they moved towards the cathedral.

"Man, do you have any idea how glad I am to be off that horse?" Maxi groaned as he limped up the hill

"Very?"

"Oh yeah"

"Besides, I have to remind you that we are two days late…It's Sunday" Kilik scolded. Maxi looked up at him, arching an eyebrow

"How the hell do you know?"

"I asked the man at the stable"

"Right"

The sound of muttering voices greeted the Asians as they neared the ruin. Stepping over the rubble, lethargically in Maxi's case, they saw a group of eight people, seated in a circle inside the chapel. All the Europeans, as expected, were there, all of them looking perfectly comfortable and well rested. A few Asians were there too, all in varying degrees of exhaustion, but it seemed they were still missing a few members.

Siegfried looked up at the new comers, from his place at the seeming 'head' of the circle. "Nice of you to join us, I must say…you're only two days late" he grumbled

"Yes, Ziggy, and how were your travels…oh, wait, I forgot…you haven't been on any" Maxi retorted, staggering forward.

A slight chuckle ran round the circle that, whether at Maxi's comment, or limp, was anyone's guess. Looking around Maxi took note of who had arrived. Sophitia, Cassandra, Ivy, Raphael, Xianghua, Taki, Mitsurugi and Yoshimitsu.

"Have you started the discussions yet?" Kilik asked, sitting next to Xianghua after a brief hug

"Not yet, we've been waiting for you" Siegfried responded "We're hoping that everyone else turns up tonight"

"That's if they're coming…we've been waiting two days" Mitsurugi spoke up

"There's only Yunsung, Mina and Talim to come" Maxi informed "They said they were meeting up first"

"So we could be waiting a while longer" Siegfried frowned

"You could…but you're not" spoke a masculine voice.

The group turned to see Yunsung, Mina and a taller Talim walk through the wall.

Two hours later, the group was coming to a decision.

"So we've all seen the mutations of the people, and agreed that Soul Edge can't be causing it, at least not on its own…so what do you suggest we do?" Siegfried finished

"Search around for some answers?" Yunsung suggested, shrugging

"Yeah, we know that Yunsung…the question is where to begin" Mina replied

"Uh…guys, can I just suggest something" Talim interjected, in a voice barely above a whisper

They turned to her and she blushed at being the centre of attention, before raising her head. "I've been reading the winds and lately …well, there seems to be a form of this evil coming from another world too, it's slightly different, but it's of the same origin…I think" she trailed off, lowering her head

"Do you know what world?" Maxi asked, sounding slightly eager

"…something to do with that boy you came back with two years ago, I got the impression that the winds meant him"

"Link?" Maxi turned to Siegfried "this is coming from Hyrule?"

"Could be…this isn't Soul Edge's doing alone. Perhaps we should pay him a visit and see if anything is happening over there"

"We can't all go" Yunsung argued "It'd be like an invasion, plus, if something is happening in Hyrule, the last thing they would want would be a group of thirteen people turning up on their doorstep"

"Then maybe, the one's who went last time should go again…at least they know people there" Xianghua suggested

"No. I don't want to go back there." Raphael stated, folding his arms and frowning

"Why not?" Yunsung asked

"That's none of your concern"

"So who will take Raphael's place?" Siegfried asked, looking around the group

A long silence followed the question, as the warriors looked from one to the other. Finally Kilik sighed. "I will. It may be that I can help in someway"

"Then that's settled." Ivy finalised "You should leave the day after tomorrow, and take tomorrow to rest and make preparations"

The group nodded and separated for the night. Going back to the inns they were staying at, Maxi and Kilik, were going to stay in the cathedral with Siegfried.

Maxi walked out for a moment, sending a bird out with a message to see if it could find Hyrule and inform Link of their arrival.

"So, we'll be seeing you again sooner than I thought Link".

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That's chapter 1 up, and I'm still only in the middle of writing 6, so don't expect too many updates. That said I'll tryto be as quick as I can. Blame my friend Justine, or rather her borrowing of the SIMSto me. Bloody game is addictive.

Keep reviewing whatever you do PLEASE! Here's a question for you: Kilik and Maxi? Friends or slightly-more-than-just-friends-I-mean-we're-kinda-talking-boyfriends-here.

Tell me what you think. See ya soon peoples!


	3. Chapter 3

A.N: Still don't own the games and that's not going to change anytime soon

Right reviewers...some messages for you below:

**Veronica the Mischevious** - Thanks. And Raphael isn't gonna be a main character in this one, as I've a rather large amount of characters to keep track of. He will, however, make an appearance from time to time as will all the more misc. charcters. The story will probably switch back to the SC world occasionally

**Sacharja **- Uh, thank you, I think (if I'm interpreting the comment about my work improving correctly). And I also thank you for being the only person to answer the Kilik/Maxi question. In all honesty, you're right Kilik is more likely to be in a relationship with Xianghua...I just happen to like the K/M pairing too. I wasn't being serious with that really, I just wanted to see if people actually pay attention to my authors notes...clearly not many do. Thank you anyway though, I hope you'll keep reading

**Shadow - **Hey. Thanks for the review...and why weren't you on when I was updating this? Hmmmmmm...?

**Weebl **-Uh...yeah...Ok.

**Varyssa **(Reviewed prologue) - Wesker got kidnapped by me...shortly after the end of Sliver of Bliss...my precious Albie!

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Chapter 2

Link sat in the courtyard of Hyrule Castle, staring up at the blue-grey sky and sighing, his wife, Zelda by his side, watching a fish in the moat swim by.

"Link?" Zelda asked looking over to him. He looked over to her and gave a slight reassuring smile, taking her hand in hers and stroking it with his thumb.

"Just thinking…I wonder if we're going to be able to stop whatever evil is causing this"

"We always have before"

"Yes, but we've always known what was causing this before…we don't now. These, mutations, are becoming more frequent everyday, and each new victim is affected worse than the last. People are looking to us to stop it and…if we can't they'll move away from Hyrule."

"Perhaps we just have to try and consult Legends and Myths…something may be written there about this…or we try to consult the goddesses and sages about the dreams"

"I don't think this was supposed to happen Zel, this isn't a legend, it doesn't have any answer at the moment, and legends always do, all the time"

They were interrupted by Liam walking in.

"You can take the death count up to 50, we've just had two more" he shook his head

"What race?" Zelda asked

"One Gerudo, one Zora…they were both found in Lake Hylia…the water could be contaminated, if so, we're in trouble"

Zelda stood up and paced around the garden, before turning to Link. "You should both go down there and see if any of the animals are affected, if they are, we have to shut off the water supply from there"

Link locked eyes with her for a moment before standing up and walking to her.

"Don't worry, I'm sure everything is fine…me and Liam will go down there and make sure." He rubbed his hand across her slightly bloated stomach and their child.

She smiled slightly at him, a tug at the corner of her lips and pulled away, striding back into the castle through the archway.

"She's really worried that this is going to affect the baby, isn't she?" Liam asked, watching her retreating figure. Link nodded in response.

"What parent wouldn't be?"

Liam didn't answer, and Link knew immediately that Liam was thinking about his own father. Seeing him staring at the floor, he placed his hand on his 'brother's' shoulder, clutching it gently to comfort him. Liam looked over to him

"…she hasn't seen the mutants yet, has she?" he asked quietly

"No, and she won't, if I have anything to do with it…do you have any idea what it could do to her?"

Taking the question as rhetorical, Liam walked away, motioning for Link to follow him. The blonde shook his head and jogged to catch up with Liam.

Riding out onto Hyrule field, Link took a deep breath of the clean air, feeling a little more refreshed as he did so, it was so good to get out of the castle, and have some real fresh air. Liam watched Link out of the corner of his eye, and glanced away as they rode down to the Lake. As he turned his horse to move away from a fence, something caught his attention. A group of no more than four people were walking across Hyrule Field, towards them. No-one did that anymore, if you went out at all, it was in a group of about ten, unless you were a warrior. That could only mean two things, they were either unaware of what was happening, or they were a group of mutants. He hoped it was the previous.

"Link" he hissed, pulling a horse to a stop. Link saw this and turned around to stand by him.

"What is it?"

Liam motioned his head to the group. "Mutants, stupid or unaware…which one do you think?"

Link looked at the other man, before turning to watch the group "I say, unaware…they don't move like the creatures… stupid people have been all but locked in their houses. The citizens can't get out of the town without yours, mine or anyone higher's signature"

"Do we go and greet them?" Liam asked, putting his hand against the pommel of his sword. Link nodded "But keep your sword drawn" he warned, and kicked Epona into movement, drawing his sword. Liam followed suit and they rode to the group. The group, in turn, slowed and watched them, moving slowly towards them.

As the two Hylian men rode closer, they began to recognize the members of the entourage, and kicked the horses into a gallop, sheathing their swords.

A smile broke onto Link's face, as he slowed Epona.

"Long time no see" he commented, to the group who had their backs turned now. The first turned slowly, carefully, but upon seeing Link, he abandoned it.

"Link!" Maxi exclaimed. At the shout, the other three turned around, and Link and Liam dismounted the horses to greet the men.

As soon as his feet touched the floor, Link found himself pulled into a rough embrace by Maxi. Liam watched with amusement, until Maxi released Link and turned to him.

"Nuh uh, no, sit, stay…uhh" he trailed off as Maxi seized him.

Yunsung chuckled at Maxi's reaction and turned to Link to greet him, whilst Siegfried rolled his eyes and Kilik raised an eyebrow. He hung back as the five men greeted each other after all the years they had been separated.

Link saw Kilik standing at the back of the group, shifting uncomfortably. Siegfried's eyes followed Link's gaze, and watched as he looked at the other young man.

Turning, Maxi decided to introduce him. "Oh, uh, Link, Liam…this is Kilik, my best friend. Kilik, you probably already guessed who these two are"

Kilik nodded slightly to Maxi. Link stepped forward, "Nice to meet you…I take it you've come in place of Raphael"

"Uh, yeah…he said he didn't want to come…I don't know why. Besides, I was curious as to what this world is like"

"Well, usually, this country at least, is pretty peaceful and uneventful" Liam spoke up, looking directly at Kilik

"Usually?" the Chinaman asked, tilting his head to the side. This caught the other men's attention.

"What's wrong now?" Siegfried asked, glancing between Link and Liam.

The Hylians remained silent for a minute, Link casting his gaze towards the lake. It was Liam who finally decided to explain.

"We've been having some trouble for the past couple of weeks; people have started mutating into hideous creatures. So far fifty have been killed…each race is affected in different ways though. Two more were found in the lake this morning so we were going to check if the water is contaminated"

"Mutations?" Kilik asked, furrowing his brow "but….that's what's happening in our world, why is it affecting here too?"

"The two worlds are connected, it stands to reason that major events would be passed on" Siegfried explained before continuing "we have no idea as to what's causing it though, but it is working alongside Soul Edge, multiplying its powers, but what we don't know yet, how this is happening"

"We don't know either, we can't even tell what the mutations are based on over here…they just seem to be random in each race"

"So you're worse off than us…man, that sucks"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Yunsung" Link snapped, glaring at the newly turned twenty year old.

"We should get to the lake" Liam said, turning to Link. Nodding in response, Link mounted Epona, Liam following suit.

"You coming?" Liam asked. The men looked to each other for a moment before nodding and following the young Hylians.

Arriving at Lake Hylia, the group couldn't believe that anything was wrong, there was no hint of the small battle that had ensued an hour ago, the soldiers versus the mutations. Upon approaching the island in the middle of the lake however, it became clear that there were problems in Hyrule. A Gerudo woman lay on the shore, or rather what had been a Gerudo woman, a trail of blood from the body pooling around her, but not yet touching the water.

"Liam, help me move her away from the water" Link ordered, rushing forward, grabbing her by the arm. Liam trotted to her other side grabbing the other arm and together they dragged her into the middle of the island, in an attempt to stop the water becoming contaminated.

"How important is this lake?" Kilik asked, watching as Link and Liam stepped away from the bloody corpse.

Link turned and answered "Unbelievably. Lake Hylia is the water source that everyone drinks from, it runs to Zora's domain and then to the Town before exiting to the Gerudo Valley and back into the lake"

"So anyone who drinks water from here will mutate, if it's contaminated"

"Yes…though we don't know how strong it'd be, but we'd rather not have the people drink it"

"Link…there's something in the water" Yunsung commented, nervously glancing to the weird shaped shadow gliding effortlessly through the water.

Before Link could comment, a Zora appeared on the shore of the island. The aquatic humanoid panted desperately, hauling themselves up. Catching Kilik's gaze at the Zora, Maxi shimmied over and murmured to him what it was.

"Ruto!" Link exclaimed, grabbing her by the forearms and dragged her onto land. The Zora Princess looked up at him before gushing

"Link, there's a mutated Zora in the water. I've been hiding in the Water Temple to keep away from it. That's another one of our people gone! What are we going to do?"

Liam's eyes suddenly locked onto the shadow as it rose to the surface rapidly.

"Move away" he commented, taking a few steps back

"Why where…."

Ruto was cut off by a sudden spray of water and she whirled around sharply to look at the creature. The members of Ruto's race were tall, slim and elegant. The head long, tapering into a fish tail, fins growing off the arms of the naked blue form, while the scales glinted gently in any light. They stood tall, walking upright, carrying their heads high, angled black eyes and long tapered noses the characteristics of the race.

Instead, the creature was on all fours, its body rippled with muscles that were too big for the flesh to conceal. And it was still mutating.

The group backed off, watching as the creature started to take on the later stages on mutation. A thin red line appeared at the tip of the nose and spread in a straight line both ways, down the centre of it, stopping half way down the hip cavity. Yunsung stepped forward, cocking his head to the side. Why was this mutation so bad…all that had happened to it was that it had enlarged muscles and a small red line down its centre.

He soon found out.

About fifteen seconds after the red line had coursed its way down the body; it started to thicken, from the tip of the nose. When it had reached about three centimetres wide, the skin seemed to cave in, and then split apart, the bone and muscle following suit, splitting the head in two, down the centre of the brain. When that was complete, the split followed the line down, cutting the body into two halves, blood spurting up from the increasingly opening wounds. The body collapsed to the floor, blood dribbling out of the neatly cut veins and arteries, the organs spilling out onto the floor, somehow still whole.

Yunsung stepped back to the group; his skin pasty white, brown eyes locked onto the heart as it lay on the grass, but continuing to beat, sending more spurts of blood out.

Link swallowed, hard, knowing there was nothing he could do now except to kill the creature while it was getting ready to further mutate. Drawing the Master Sword from its scabbard on his back, he stepped forward, when the former Zora started to mutate again.

On the inside of the split, new limbs were beginning to grow an arm and a leg on each side. The original pair of legs had shifted forward, so that the creature could walk on all fours if needed, well, all eights would be more appropriate, a small skinny arm had grown out of the flesh of the split shoulders, and another pair of legs were rapidly sprouting across from the originals. As the limbs began to lengthen and thicken, muscle weaving round them in long cords, the head reformed into one again, and the misshapen life form pushed itself up onto its knees and began to stand, the fins on the arms and legs turning solid to form blade like appendages, slight trails of blood coursing down the ivory coloured bone in spider web like patterns.

The Zora Princess, Ruto, backed up slightly, a blue hand covering her mouth her skin turning an almost pure white as she looked at her once-brethren.

Link stared down at the creature as it staggered upright, a scowl contorting his usually smooth and gentle features. Tightening his fingers around the hilt of his sword, he strode forwards to the creature, raising his sword to strike down the mutant before it could cause anyone harm.

Liam closed his eyes; looking away from the sight of the corpse of the creature, turning away he ran across the bridge to the lake side laboratory, he reappeared a couple of minutes later with a few sheets. The warriors wordlessly covered the corpses and moved them to the laboratory where they would be stored until the bodies were destroyed. Ruto bid the men goodbye and dived in the water to shut off the water source to the rest of Hyrule…there was no telling how dangerous the water could be with the infected Zora swimming around it.

"We should get back to the castle and inform Zelda and the King about this" Liam stated, looking to Link. The blonde young man merely nodded and climbed onto Epona's back

The journey back to Hyrule Castle was silent and lengthy, a sense of despair and depression working its way into the minds of the witnesses.

Maxi, walking beside Epona, glanced up to Link on several occasions. His mouth was pressed into a thin, grim line, his normally bright blue eyes, dulled and so dark they were almost black. He stared forward, deep in thought, never once paying heed to the concerned looks that his friends were throwing him, merely continuing to gaze blankly ahead.

Finally, as the castle rose into sight, Siegfried decided, perhaps unwisely, to break the silence. "Link?"

The Hylian snapped back to reality "Huh?" he asked, a slightly blank tone still evident in his voice

"Are you Ok?" the German asked, his solid bluey-green eyes fixated on Link's face.

Link looked back at him, a brilliant grin, somewhat akin to that he had used when they had met, spread across his face. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little concerned…but I'm sure you can understand that" Link brushed it off, waving his hand slightly.

Siegfried in turn let a slight smile slip across his face as he acknowledged Link's answer, and turned his attention back to the castle.

Yunsung, not wanting to be left out, attempted to start a conversation. "So…uhh, anything different in Hyrule apart from the weird mutations.

"No not really" Link replied, looking back to him "I'm married to Zel, but that's pretty much it"

Liam snorted loudly "Yeah, that and the fact you got her pregnant too"

Link blushed pure crimson, the red glow spreading even to the tips of his long, pointed ears. Straightening in the saddle, he squared his shoulders and thrust his nose into the air. "You make that sound like a bad thing"

Liam snorted again "No comment"

Glaring, Link attempted to get his 'brother' back for embarrassing him. "Yeah well, at least I was married to Zel before she became pregnant….unlike someone, Liam"

"She's not though" Liam retorted

"No…but I do know what you've been…OW!" Link ended abruptly, rubbing the back of his head where Liam had just hit him.

"Oh," Maxi raised a sharp black eyebrow "who's _'she'_?"

Liam didn't have the chance to hit Link and he turned several different shades of scarlet, as his 'twin' blurted out "Malon, the ranch girl!"

"Malon?"

"Yeah, we visited her on the day you left, well he and Malon are an item now but…"

"Enough!" Liam bellowed, glowering at the rest of the group who were laughing rather loudly at the exchange.

The two guards who were standing at the drawbridge, stared at him sceptically, and he ducked his head down, flushing profusely as he passed them.

When they had sauntered past the guards, Liam growled, especially when he heard the older, supposedly more 'mature' men, guffawing almost obnoxiously.

Kicking his horse in the sides, Liam trotted up to the castle gates, ahead of the rest, where he stood, waiting for them.

When Link appeared on the path the gates were opened at Liam's request.

"Sorry Liam, but it was just too good an opportunity pass up, after all, you embarrassed me" Link apologised, clapping his friend on the back. Liam shrugged carelessly as the stable lads led the horses away. "Doesn't matter. Anyway, let's get inside, have some lunch and talk about well, something"

* * *

All right...a couple of days late, and I apologise...got ripped away from the computer. Review please...and I apologise to anyone whose e-mail I haven't replied to...and we're in the middle of writing chapter 7 people

Shadow...get ur ass on MSN Messanger


	4. Chapter 4

A.N: Still don't own a damn thing

To all reviewers - I can't be bothered writing out seperate notes to all of you so just a general thank you!

To Paul/Shadow - Without publicising this all over the net...I'm not interested in you like that...and please don't try to come over for muy birthday...We're going to have to have a discussion...so I'll be on to talk to you on Thursday

* * *

Chapter 3

Wesker sat in a comfortable black leather chair in his office, reclining slightly, a glass of wine clasped in his right hand. His eyes were closed, for the moment, as he gave his mind a brief break from work, though he would have to get back soon. After he went over the contamination with Aaron, he would have to return to the labs.

With that thought, he pushed himself up from the chair, snatching up his sunglasses off the desk, brushing a piece of dirt from his black shirt. He didn't slip the shades on immediately; instead he walked over to a small mirror that hung on the wall. Stopping in front of it, he gazed distantly at his reflection, his thoughts drifting to his plan. Shaking his head, he returned to staring at his reflection, taking in what he saw, his red and yellow reptilian eyes roaming over his features. Dipping his head slightly, he pushed back a few loose strands of blonde hair, into the rest of the slicked back mass. He ran hand over his pale skin, and slipped the shades on, grinning sadistically at some unknown thought.

Wesker didn't consider himself a particularly vain man, he didn't spend hours staring at his reflection and drooling over it, but, with the position he was in, appearance meant a lot. His appearance was all about intimidation, because intimidation lead to your own sense of power and power was his game. And he was excellent at intimidating people.

At six foot tall, he was one of the taller people in the facility, but height didn't mean a whole lot. He often reflected as to what made him so intimidating. It may have been his tall height and rather muscular build, especially as most of the scientists here were as thin as pencils. Wesker may have been in his mid forties, but he wasn't showing any signs of that, granted he didn't look twenty years old, but he was still as slim as when he was, and his build, though not massive, was still probably more than everyone else in the facility combined.

However, whilst some scientists were genuinely terrified of his physical size, most brushed it off. Then again, most hadn't been cornered by him with no way to escape unless he let you.

Wesker shrugged to himself, it was everything about him that intimidated people, his height and build, his flat, smooth, slow voice. His startling coldness was one of the main things though; they say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, so he kept his covered, so that he couldn't be read.

That summed him up pretty well, cold and unreadable. He had met a woman once who was convinced that she could read him, and she had, he had openly let her, because when she saw what he was like, it almost broke her. He had reminded her after that she had been looking for a warmth and kindness in him…something that simply didn't exist. If it did, it was so small that it made no difference to the rest his nature.

Wesker snapped his head up and strode over to the desk, slipping into his chair when he heard a knock at the door. He straightened himself out, even with Aaron, he still had to be cold, in fact, he had to be worse than usual because he had to show Aaron who was boss.

"Enter," Wesker called, lowering his head to look at the paper work that was sitting on his desk. He had to look professional in front of Aaron; it would only take a slip in his demeanour and superior attitude for his 'accomplice' to become full of himself. Wesker knew this, he had to, in fact, it would be stupid if he didn't know, after all, Wesker created the creature and had modelled him after himself…so he knew him through and through.

A young man stepped into the room, closing the door behind him with a small click. Wesker carefully glanced through the shades at his visitor, then returned to the papers.

The man walked to the desk, somewhat stiffly, before sliding into the chair opposite and looking to his superior, waiting for him to speak. The blonde man ignored his companion for a moment, slowly filling in a section of the sheet before signing it off and setting the pen down to the side, carefully and slowly, as if to draw out the slight tension in the room. Finally, he let the pen go and looked up at the other man.

"Well Aaron, I trust you had no trouble in getting here seeing as how you're on time" Wesker drew his words out slowly, making sure he kept his voice cold.

"No, I did not have any trouble" Aaron replied, somewhat robotically, his words pronounced carefully so that almost every letter was emphasised. It was somewhat clear that he was unused to having to speak, unpractised at the art of conversation.

"Good, that means no-one suspects you…either that or they just don't want to argue with me. After all, you are my…student"

"Yes" Aaron replied automatically, that unrehearsed tone evident.

"…did you get the data?"

"Yes"

"Well, what is it?" Wesker snapped, impatiently, brushing at a loose strand of hair. He slumped back into the chair, Aaron was technically only two weeks old, he wasn't really comfortable with speaking fluently yet, or understanding people's meanings. Which created suspicion as to why the boy was so 'slow'.

"Mutations are spreading rapidly through both worlds. Test world number one has a 'demon sword' in it…it is referred to as the Soul Calibur world. In effect, the virus is strengthened and mutated itself as it enters the world through the portal. Once it that world the virus infected the sword, which has acted as a catalyst, further strengthening the virus. The sword is emanating the virus throughout that world." "Excellent…what form are the mutations taking?"

"Generally the flesh will thicken immensely, taking on a dull red, brown or green colour. The veins multiply, rising to just under the surface of the skin, spreading randomly across the body. More recent subjects have developed wounds lined with teeth and are starting to develop yellow eyes on any part of the body"

"And these are all influenced through the sword catalyst?"

"Yes"

"Interesting. Very interesting." Wesker turned to the computer, calling up several folders and files, typing the information in.

"Do we have a subject yet…one who is infected, but not mutating yet?"

"No, the humans infected are immediately destroyed by the warriors who defend the sword."

At the news, Wesker growled, adjusting his sunglasses slightly.

"…meddling fools, they'd get along well with Redfield and his motley crew of do-gooders…what else?" he asked, before turning back to the computer and typing more data in. A moment afterwards an animated image of a molecular DNA structure appeared, and he studied it intently. He nodded at it.

"Judging from the sample of DNA from the sword, the virus should let the body and mind be controlled once it's in the later stages…we'd have an army of bio-weapons, completely under our control." Wesker paused, grinning, then turned back to Aaron.

"The other world?"

"Each race that live in that one country are affected in a different way…somehow, the virus is also being confined to that land"

Wesker looked at him "That doesn't matter; we have enough samples and subjects from that one."

"The dominant race, the Hylians, have been affected the least, their leaders protect them from further infection. Carriers are destroyed immediately"

"Well, at least these people aren't as dumb as I suspected…but not so much as to stop our plan. They're several centuries behind us after all"

Aaron nodded in agreement and Wesker let a flicker of a smile pass across his face.

Aaron, as Wesker had christened him, was not strictly human. He had been created, not born. Therefore, everything Aaron knew had been taught to him by Wesker, his personality, his knowledge, how to act…everything. It seemed, however, that Aaron was starting to get his own personality. As long as he stayed subservient though, Wesker didn't care…too much anyway.

"The Hylians" Aaron started "seem to turn inside out, looking somewhat like the T-virus Chimeras, but with additional flesh and the internal organs remain"

"Uh-huh"

"The Gorons, a rock-eating race that live under an active volcano, take on a reptilian appearance, growing scales and the eyes turn to slits. Some take on the form of…" he paused for a moment trying to find the correct word "dragons. They also sprout tentacles"

Wesker nodded, turning to the computer.

"You have a photograph of the original creatures and they're mutated forms, yes?"

"I do, yes. For all of the races"

Wesker opened his mouth to request them, but he was surprised when the young man pulled a small black carrying case off the floor, unzipping it as he laid it on his lap. The blonde man looked inside the case to find every document to do with the virus inside. Reports of the mutations, dating from when Wesker himself had had to go and check up on the race, while Aaron was still underdeveloped, neatly filed into a ring binder. Patterns of growth, chemicals that were present in the demon sword, information on the subject worlds. Everything was there, including tapes of the citizens' activities and photos of the people, paired with what they turned into.

Aaron took the relevant information out of the case and turned it over, opening the other side to reveal a large, silver metal box, the letters 'HCF' stamped on top of it.

Wesker gathered the papers and photos together, pulling them towards him. He felt the corner of his mouth twitch when he saw the letters on the box. HCF was the company that Wesker worked for, a pharmaceutical group, engaged in bio-weapons research. They were much like the Umbrella Corporation that Wesker had left eight years ago, whilst on a mission, but Umbrella was shut down two years ago, thanks to Chris Redfield and co.

It really was unfortunate that Aaron had to use equipment stamped with the companies name, it could give them away so easily.

Aaron tapped the keys on the top of the case and it slid open smoothly to reveal various scientific equipment. A small gun, used for administering the virus, the actual virus, contained in a sealed tube, the thick silver liquid lying flat and about a half-dozen syringes, all filled with blood samples from test world number two's races.

Aaron pulled the tubes out of the case, sliding them to Wesker and closing the case, slipping it back into the black bag. That done he leaned back into the seat, pushing his black hair away from his forehead, combing it away with his fingers.

Wesker flicked through the papers documenting the changes before he turned to the photos. The first test world was rather normal and uninteresting, save for the presence of that biological demonic sword. The second world, however, was a scientist's paradise. There were six races, and for the most part, all different. There were the Gerudos, a strange race consisting entirely of women, the Kokiri, a race of immortal forest children, the Zoras, an aquatic humanoid race, the Gorons, a rock eating thick skinned race. The Hylians were the main inhabitants, distantly related to the Sheikah, or shadow folk, and these were the ones that interested him most…the Sheikah and Hylians. They seemed so normal, so human, unlike the other freaks in test world two. For the most part the dominant race was bright, creative and strangely beautiful and there was something more about them. What is was though, Wesker couldn't pin point, this world had the possible chance to use electric appliances, yet they were 500 years or so behind this world.

Wesker shook his head slightly, and let his hidden eyes roam over the photographs laid out before him, all those races, so strange, but intriguing. One caught his eye especially. There should have only been twelve surveillance shots in front of him, but there were actually sixteen. He gathered the extra four into his hands and studied them; three different people were in the glossy pictures.

The first, a young woman that couldn't have been older than twenty, sitting on stone steps at the head of what seemed to be a garden. She was sitting with her head slightly turned towards the camera, her eyes locked onto something on the floor. The girl was dressed in a long pink dress, a golden headpiece laid across her forehead, just below her hairline. Her long golden blonde hair was pulled back from her face, falling down her back so that it pooled onto the floor because of its length. Her ears were one of the things that gave away the fact she wasn't completely human, they were small, but pointed, almost leaf shaped. The main feature though was her eyes, incredibly light blue and clear, and her undeniable beauty, the skin just a shade pinker than pure white. She was a testament to his previous thought, they were strangely beautiful.

The next two pictures proved that further. Two young men, about the same age as the girl, were in separate photos. They were identical, save for eye and hair colour, and the scar one had through his left eye. One of the boys was blonde, his eyes dark blue, but bright and full of life, and the other had dark blonde hair and jade green eyes. Unnatural colours, but intense and beautiful. Their faces had an elegant look to them, soft but strong, all their features angled and tipped to perfection.

The final picture was of the three standing together, full body shots, and the girl, was pregnant.

"Aaron," Wesker began, looking across to the creation "why do you have these?" he held up the pictures, showing them to him

"I thought it might be interesting to see how the two blonde Hylians react to the virus"

"Explain…and why those two?"

"They are husband and wife, and she is pregnant…it could be an interesting study to see if the child was born mutated…and she has not seen the mutations yet"

Wesker watched Aaron for a moment, staring at him, seeing if he could make him uncomfortable under the scrutiny. Aaron showed no signs of discomfort, just stared back stolidly.

Finally, the blonde pulled his gaze away "I see…you're right, it will make an interesting study…but you must make sure that only the child gets infected, not her. This may be scientific, but I would love to see how these sensitive people react when their child is born a freak" his face broke into a broad grin "Emotional torture is so enjoyable when you can't suffer it…how far along is she?"

"About five months, sir"

"Then there's still enough time for the child to mutate…you must keep a close watch on her and see that it gets infected"

Aaron nodded "You are aware of the mutations of the other races now?"

"Yes, you can go now…get back quickly. I have to return to my duties in a moment"

Wesker closed the files on the computer, and shut it down. Taking the documents, he walked over to a small filing cabinet, pushing it out of the way to reveal a slight silver patch. Rubbing his gloved hand over it a number panel appeared and he tapped in the code, slipping the information inside the new compartment, along with the samples.

Sealing it he turned back to Aaron, to see him gathering his case up and walking to the door. He slipped out without a word, the pasty white hand on the door the last thing Wesker saw as the door closed. Tilting his head down and looking over the top of his sunglasses, he stared at the door for a moment, before murmuring

"Spread your disease, you only have to touch her…after all…you are the Anodyne"

* * *

I hope that was enlightening for you.

As a note, I won't be updating for at least3 weeks now. I'm on work- experience this week and next, so I'm going to be tired and sick of staring at computer screens. The week after I'm on holdiay, but I'll try to get a chapter up on the monday after I come back

See you then!


	5. Chapter 5

A.N: I am back from Scotland, and I'll be trying to update every week

The next few chapters may be a bit boring but please stay with the story

* * *

Chapter 4

Leon Kennedy lay on his bed in his apartment in Washington D.C., bored out of his skull. He slid off the bed and strolled into the living room, deep in thought. He was waiting for everyone to get back from their little trip; Leon hadn't been able to go because he had been working late, so now he was on his own, save for the birds in the corner of the room.

When Leon had left Hyrule to return home to his friends and family, Link had insisted on him taking the Hylian Night Stars with him, so they were now sharing a gigantic cage with Leon's original pet Myna birds…the ones he had been given before he had gone on that excursion to Spain.

Of course, watching the birds and thinking of their origin made Leon's mind wander to thoughts of Hyrule. He had moved away from Hyrule two months after the Soul warriors had left. He had been strolling around Hyrule field, when some strangers had appeared through a portal. By either luck or fate, the strangers had turned out to be none other than Chris Redfield and co.

So that was how he had returned, and his life had also been returned to normal. He was back with his wife, Claire, his daughter, Sora and his friends from this world. The few renegades that, two years ago, had pulled Umbrella from its domineering throne. It was amazing how a group of eight people with very little support could bring down a multi billion dollar corporation. Especially when you considered the group of misfits that they were.

Going to his place on the couch, his eyes flicked to the few photographs on the glass coffee table. They were mainly of Leon, Claire and Sora, with the odd one of Leon's parents and siblings thrown in, and one of Chris and Jill.

The main photo of the group of rebels was on the wall to his right, the focal point of the room, apart from the widescreen TV, of course. It was an 8" by 10" blown up for the purpose of filling a long time bare space, and Leon and Claire's pride for their friends.

There were only 7 people in this picture though. They were all standing together with their partners. In the back was Chris Redfield and Jill Valantine-Redfield, their arms wrapped around each others backs, wide smiles on their faces. Just in front of them and to the right was Carlos Oliveira and Rebecca Chambers, Carlos standing just behind Rebecca, his hands clasped in front of her waist, his arms around her. To their right were Leon and Claire themselves, mirroring Carlos and Rebecca, but with Claire's hands lying on top of Leon's. Finally, kneeling in front of the group was ex-convict, Billy Coen, on his own, his face slightly more sombre than the others, but still smiling nevertheless.

Barry Burton, the oldest member of the group was behind the camera, taking the photo, having insisted that he hadn't done anything and that it should just be the 'youngsters' in the picture.

Considering the former occupations of these people, it really was amazing that they were friends, even more so when you thought about all their personalities. Chris, before joining S.T.A.R.S had been a pilot in the air force, Jill had been a cat-burglar, Carlos, a mercenary for hire, even working for Umbrella at one point, but he had never joined S.T.A.R.S. Rebecca Chambers, a child prodigy, had been a medic, but trained for Bio-chemic investigations for the S.T.A.R.S team. Leon had been a rookie cop, for a day, Claire a law student in college, Billy Coen had been a lieutenant in the Marines, before being labelled a mass murderer.

The phone ringing interrupted Leon's analysis of the group. Shaking his head he reached over and plucked the cordless telephone off the table, lifting it to his ear.

"Hello," he greeted

"Hey Leon, it's Billy" Billy's slightly rough voice answered.

"Alright Bill, what's up? When're you going to be back, I'm getting bored here"

"Uh…we're not going to be back for a while, there was a slight…hiccup in the plan"

"All you had to do was get outside Wesker's office in the HCF facility; no-one goes up that way, so how could there have been a problem?"

"We ran into Wesker's sidekick"

Leon paused, a sudden seriousness and worry pouring over him "What happened…where you are?"

There was a sigh on Billy's end of the line "I'll explained what happened later…as for where we are…St.Mary's hospital, far side of Washington"

"Who got hurt?"

"Carlos…he was shot and the rest of us have some sort of injury, however minor…we need you to come down here, Carlos might need your support and our info can't wait"

"Ok, I'll be down there now. See ya"

"See ya" the phone went dead.

Leon stood and ran to the door, flicking off the lights and slipping his trainers on, grabbing his coat and keys at the same time.

Minutes later he was in his car, driving through the busy streets of Washington D.C., heading to the other side of town.

Claire Kennedy sat in a chair in the reception of the hospital, her head drooping against her brother's shoulder. Chris, watching her intently, shifted slightly so that she could rest against him properly, she was falling asleep leaning on him, her eyelids gradually dropping closed more.

Jill was sitting on Chris's right, soothing Rebecca, whose fiancée was now lying in a hospital bed, having been shot in the chest. Carlos and Rebecca had been engaged before Billy had come back into her life, and Billy, despite how much he cared for Rebecca, had accepted it. In fact, he thought of her more as a little sister than anything else now, regardless of the slightly romantic relationship that had been built when the couple had first met.

Billy often said that since the relationship took place on a zombie infested train and then an Umbrella training facility, it was based on intense circumstances, and relationships based on intense circumstances never worked out. Leon argued the fact that it wasn't true, using him and Claire, Jill and Chris as examples. The arguments would go on for ages, always ending with the two somehow sparring with rolled up magazines in place of swords.

It was another example of Leon's thoughts about the strangeness of the group, that an ex-convict and ex-cop were almost best friends.

The sound of heavy footsteps heading his way made Chris snap his head up to see Billy walking back to the reception area, having called Leon. Everyone else had been either too tired or in pain to get up and walk to the phones, just inside the entrance hall of the hospital.

Claire was exhausted, as well as injured, her left leg stretched out awkwardly in front of her, thick white bandages wrapped around her thigh. She had managed to rip her leg open on the glass shards of the window that the group had hastily escaped through after being confronted by 'Aaron'. Chris himself was merely worried about Claire and wouldn't leave her side if an atomic bomb was about to be dropped into the room, being the concerned older brother that he was. Jill had been smashed in the head with a gun, and knocked unconscious for a moment, so she was still a little dizzy and dis-orientated. Rebecca hadn't actually been on the outing, but working late in this very same hospital, she had been on duty when Carlos had been wheeled in on a stretcher. Consequently she had been given the rest of the night off because of the worry she was currently suffering. She wouldn't have been allowed on the mission anyway, she was pregnant with Carlos's child, so wasn't allowed to go.

Billy had a few minor scratches across his chest and neck, a small bruise growing on his temple. He had offered to go and call Leon, seeing how put out everyone else was.

"Is he coming?" Chris asked, looking up at Billy who had come to stand in front of him to give him the news.

"Yeah, he said he'd be down here right away…he'll probably end up in casualty because he'll be driving too fast trying to get down here" Billy joked, pushing back his dark brown hair, a slight tint of red being caught by the light.

Chris snorted "Probably, he's always more concerned than then the rest of us guys"

"You make that sound like it's a bad thing" Claire commented, opening her eyes to glare at Billy because of his joke. He smiled nervously at the glare she was giving him, and moved back to his seat, next to Rebecca.

Billy looked down at Rebecca, curled up on the green chair as much as her swollen abdomen would allow, and he felt a rush of pity wash over him for her…she was only 26, the youngest of the group. If you excluded Barry, Billy was the oldest, being 34. He was also the only one without a definite partner, though he was supposed to be meeting Leon's step-sister at some point, but…that was a different matter. Claire was the second youngest at 27, Leon the youngest male at 28. Jill and Carlos were both 31 and Chris was 33.

So everyone was in a definite relationship, except Billy…Claire and Leon were married, Chris and Jill had been married for about 7 years now, Rebecca and Carlos had got engaged just over two years ago, and were planning to marry after the baby was born.

Billy sighed a little at that thought and slumped down into his chair, drawing his legs up to his chest, resting his chin on his knees.

"Must be nice to be able to do that"

Billy turned his head to look at Rebecca, smiling a little at her. The faintest hint of a smile touched Rebecca's lips, but it was obvious to Billy, because of her tear stained face, that she was worried sick about Carlos.

"Well it's not my fault your fiancée got you pregnant…is it?"

She smiled again and placed her hand on his arm, shoving him slightly.

"Rebecca?" A nurse walked over to her, and the 26 year old immediately snapped her attention away from her friend and onto her colleague.

"Uh…yeah?"

"Your fiancée is awake, and he's asking to see you…he's up in intensive care but because you work here you're allowed in there…I'm afraid Dr. Nick won't let your friends in there though" the nurse nervously informed her, glancing at Billy.

"Oh….well um, I'll tell you guys how he is then…I'll see you later" Rebecca muttered quickly and headed after her work mate.

Seconds after Rebecca was out of sight, Billy slid into her chair.

"Jump in her grave so quickly, why don't you?" Jill commented, looking over to Billy. He merely shrugged and folded his legs underneath himself, resting his elbow on the arm of the chair, cupping his cheek in his hand.

"How are we going to tell Leon about what we found?" she asked after a moment's silence

"Simple, we go back to his apartment and we open our mouths and lo and behold, we should be able to speak to him!"

"Coen" Jill growled, furrowing her eyebrows as she glared at him

"Christ, what is it about you women and glaring at me today?"

"…you're very….glare-at-able" Claire murmured to him from Chris's shoulder

"Nice word" Chris remarked, looking to his sibling and rolling his eyes at her. She smiled and closed her eyes again, apparently slipping back into sleep. Jill followed suit, leaning back into the chair and tucking herself into a ball, using Chris's forearm as a pillow. Within minutes, she was sleeping soundly along with Claire, occasional small snores emanating from both of them.

Chris smiled gently at the women and turned to speak to Billy. When his gaze rose to where Billy's face was, his smile faded. The older man was back to sitting with his legs drawn to his chest, hugging them, his eyes staring down at them. His mouth was set into a thin, down turned line, dark blue eyes distant and sombre.

Chris sighed inwardly. Billy had always been the more serious member of the group. While he did joke with the others, Chris often felt that the man's heart was never truly in it. Chris himself was fairly serious, but not in the gloomy, depressive way that Billy was. Carlos was a complete and total joker, always being immature, his partner Rebecca being light-hearted and shy. Jill was cheery almost 24-7, and Claire was pretty much the same as him. Leon was half way between Billy and Chris. He wasn't dark and brooding, but he took his dangerous situations seriously, he was light hearted for the most part and would always joke with others, but never at anyone's expensive. If some one in the group was being picked on, even if it was a joke, he would always defend them and turn the tables on the attacker…which was usually Carlos, towards Billy.

It was true that there was some bad blood between Billy and Carlos, and it was all to do with Rebecca. Billy had met Rebecca under some unusual circumstances, being a zombie-infested train, in addition to the fact that he was a convict and she was a police woman. Carlos had met Rebecca through Chris and Jill, under better situations and developed an instant like for each other. Even though Billy remarked that 'Becca' was a little sister to him, they all knew that he would've liked to have been able to have a relationship with her, something that he had rather brutally been forced to realise that he couldn't have when he was introduced to the group. Being the outsider that he was, and with his history of a mass murder, he had been mis-trusted for months before everyone eventually accepted him. Carlos however, was cautious about him even to this day. Billy held a small dislike for Carlos because he had destroyed his chances with Rebecca.

The ex-convict was now the oldest member of the group, and he was also single. He was also, in Chris's opinion, the most attractive guy, so why he couldn't get a girlfriend was beyond him. He wanted a girlfriend, and he was handsome, friendly, and caring, the one thing he was lacking, was confidence. It was strange to Chris that a man, who had worked in the army, for about 5 years, was shy about going out to find someone. Deep down though, it was probably because of his past.

From what Chris had heard, the ex-serviceman had had a rough life. His father had left before he was born after finding out his mother was pregnant with him. His mother regretted the fact that he was conceived because it drove her lover away, and she was so young when he was born that she felt she had wasted her life. Consequently, she had ignored Billy for much of his childhood, occasionally abusing him while he was too small to defend himself. It was because of this that Billy had his tattoo. It stretched from his shoulder to his wrist of his right arm, a tribal style writing that ornately conveyed the slogan 'Mother Love', it was sarcasm. It was also rather ironic that Billy claimed the first song he can ever recall hearing, was Queen's 'Mother Love'. That aside Billy had been avoided at school, because of his rough appearance and reputation. He had been all but thrown out of his home by his mother, when he was 16. When he was 20 he had signed up with the army. What happened in those 4 years between being thrown out and signing up, Billy wouldn't say.

Once in the army he had risen to the rank of second-lieutenant after years of service, and then he was betrayed by his own team. Accused of murder, he had been sent to prison and an institution for a year, and then sentenced to death. He had escaped that and met Rebecca, all but falling in love with her. He had wandered alone for 6 years, before finding his way to Rebecca, only to be told he couldn't be with her.

And now he was nearing in his mid thirties, and he was still practically alone.

Chris held a deep pity for Billy, he was a good guy and it wasn't fair what had befallen him.

"Billy?" Chris said quietly. Billy grunted in response to show he was listening "…are you OK?"

The other man looked over to Chris and nodded silently before unfurling his body. "I'm going for a walk to get some fresh air…I'll look out for Leon" he stated, straightening himself out and briskly walking away.

Chris watched him retreat, and sighed again.

"Are you going to go after him?" Claire asked, eyes still closed. Chris started a little, he hadn't even realised she was awake.

"I may do in a minute…he needs to sort himself out though"

"How are you going to tell him that…he'll ignore you"

"Probably"

"Why are you so worried? He's always like this"

"…He's a good guy and he should be with someone, not wandering alone"

"Chris…you need to think about it from his perspective. Jill will tell you the same thing…even Leon will. What you really need to realise though, is that Billy is a loner and when he's ready to find someone, he will"

"His past hinders him though…he's scared he'll be betrayed by someone who he cares for"

"So is everyone…you thought that way when Jill first came back with Carlos…you thought she would leave you for him"

"Yeah…but I didn't let it stop me"

Claire rolled her eyes, Chris wasn't getting her point, and by now Jill was waking up.

"Chris, Billy isn't like you. I know that you're worried about him because he's your friend…but don't push him. You have to accept the fact that Billy may never find someone, especially if he's pushed into a relationship. Let him do what he wants." It was Jill who commented this time, opening sleepy eyes to look at her husband.

"But if he never finds someone…."

"Then he has us to keep him company and support him. If you're really that worried, go and talk to him" Claire finished "Besides me and Jill want a girl to girl talk, now shoo" she waved him away with her hand.

Chris rolled his eyes and stood up to stretch, and walked towards the entrance of the hospital, leaving the girls to their 'talk'.

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Will somebody please review?

Answer me this someone who plays Resi or even if you don't...What did you think of Wesker in the last chapter? Was he in character or does he need improving?


	6. Chapter 6

A.N: Hi...still don't own anything. Still writing the story, and still a little boring...it'll pick up in chapter 6 

Blizrun - I have already contacted you on your review (as you know) but thank you again for reviewing, stay in touch

Sacharja - Thank you! And I apologise for all the character analysis crap stuff...I'm not very good at it. And I also apologise for the fact that yet another chapter is going to be like that...but fear not, next chapter we should get moving properely again. And Leon is in this chappy, so it's not all bad.

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Chapter 5

Chris walked quickly to the outside gardens of the hospital and breathed in deeply, glad to get rid of the smell of bleach in his nose. Opening his eyes, he wandered around aimlessly for a moment and stared at the sky. The gardens were to the side of the hospital, away from the blinding lights of the rooms. The sky was clouded over a little, dark blue grey clouds obscuring the crescent moon, the background of the sky itself was black to his left, but over to his right, it was a strange terracotta colour, effects of the light pollution of the city.

The sound was mainly of passing cars still rushing by, the odd person's voice drifting over to him, a cat mewing somewhere in one of the nearby trees.

Despite the efforts of the people who created this garden, they couldn't get rid of the vile taint of human life, no matter how much they closed off this area. It made the garden a strange place, a mixture of solitude and privacy combined with the intrusive eyes of patients or animals.

Chris continued to stroll along casually, his eyes lazily searching for the well-built frame of Billy obscured by darkness.

"I'm here, Chris" a voice stated and Chris immediately recognized as Billy's. However, its rough edge was dulled down, giving him a defeated tone.

Turning to his left, he saw Billy sitting on top of a bench in front if him. Immediately, Chris headed towards the bench, and sat down next to him.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" again, that deflated tone sounded in Chris's ears.

"How do you know I want to talk to you about something?"

"You wouldn't be here otherwise…you'd be looking out for Leon"

"True"

Billy let his eyes stray to Chris's concerned face, and he lowered his gaze, not wanting to meet Chris's piercing eyes. The man had an uncanny ability for telling what he was feeling, and he hated being interrogated about his feelings, his only choice was to drive him away.

"Before we start…you're not going to get rid of me easily" Chris stated

"I thought I mightn't be able to deter you"

"I'm doing this for you, not me…you don't seem to realise that though"

"I know that….but I like to deal with my problems by myself"

"That doesn't always work…you've done it for most of your life and now you're so alone you can't even tell us the slightest problem"

Billy remained silent, and for a second Chris though he might have pushed too far, been too blunt. Billy in turn tried to think of a comeback…but couldn't.

"See…you know I'm right."

Billy's dark eyes flicked to Chris and for a second he contemplated jumping the man and throttling him into unconsciousness…but that probably wouldn't go down too well. Instead he gave a resigned sigh and slid down to sit on the bench properly and looked to Chris.

"Seen as I can't think of anything to say to get you to leave me in peace...what did you want to say?"

"It's a general consensus sooo…we're just worried about you, you're so much more serious than the rest of us and you never seem to lighten up."

"So I'm serious, big deal" Billy shrugged

"You're not just serious, you're down right depressing…we want to know what it is"

"You know full well what it is, my past, my relationships, my inability to trust….everything about my life that has been screwed up, either by me or someone else"

Chris watched as Billy spoke, the older man's eyes falling to the floor as he did, and Chris couldn't find anything to say to comfort him, because he knew that Billy was right. The man was brutal when it came to his own past and situations, he would state exactly what it was and unfortunately the harshness over those situations was never exaggerated. This meant that Chris couldn't even beat Billy back to reality and accuse him of being melodramatic, because he wasn't.

Chris sighed inwardly, disheartened by Billy's and Carlos's situations. Carlos was fighting for his life, and had everything to live for. Billy didn't have much to live for, in his eyes at least, except his friends and even when he looked at them they were so happy with their families that he felt they sometimes couldn't give him the time of day. Chris also knew that a lot of Billy's discouraged attitude was caused by Carlos's spiteful jeers towards him. Carlos was aware of exactly how to hit Billy where it hurt and so he did so often. Why he did it the rest of the group didn't know, but they were pretty sure that it had something to do with the fact that Rebecca, whilst being engaged to Carlos, still had a soft spot for Billy and was fairly close to him. To Billy and everyone else, Rebecca treated them all equally, even if she did have a liking for Billy she was always careful to keep herself distanced from him at times, especially when her fiancée was nearby.

Billy suddenly snorted, grabbing Chris's attention away from his mind wanderings.

"What's up?" he asked looking over at him, to see him gazing through a window into a patients room. While the gardens were designed to be out of the way of the patient's view, it was inevitable that there would be a few that looked out onto it.

"I really know how to pick my thinking spots, don't I?" Billy motioned with his head to the window. Chris leaned forward to glance past him into the room. He understood what Billy meant instantly. There, being lifted into the hospital bed was Carlos, having just been moved out of intensive care, despite the fact he had only been there for a little while. Rebecca was standing behind her colleagues, watching intently as Carlos was shifted onto the bed and he made himself comfortable. Within a few minutes of him being placed in the bed he was fully installed, the doctors and nurses filing out of the room, Rebecca going over to where Carlos lay, grasping his hand and smiling at him. He smiled back at her stroking her hand with his thumb, talking to her as he did.

"Well there you are, an example of my life being screwed up" Billy muttered. He looked away, glaring at the night sky, tugging the neck of his black turtleneck away from his throat slightly. He lowered his eyes back to normal level, and saw Chris watching him, concerned, he reached out, clasping Billy's shoulder to try and offer him support.

"Don't take it too hard…you can't change it now" Chris counselled. Billy nodded and then turned his head sharply when he saw headlights sweeping over the garden, from the car park.

"I think Leon may be here" he commented, standing up and pulling his sweater back into shape. "We better go see"

"Sure" Chris replied following suit and getting up, brushing any dirt away from his jeans that may have lingered on the bench.

As Billy turned to speak to his companion, the room which held Carlos caught his eye or rather, Carlos caught his eye. The Latin descended man was glaring up at him through the window, his eyes narrowed towards him, scrutinizing him fiercely. Rebecca had her back to the window, her face buried in Carlos's shoulder as she sat on the bed, next to him.

Billy tore his eyes away from Carlos's gaze, unnerved by the almost hatred that Carlos had exhibited towards him. Uneasy about it, Billy hastily turned back to Chris.

"C'mon" he muttered, stuffing his into the pockets of his jeans and shuffling away. Chris followed hesitantly, hanging back in his concern. He would have to see about Carlos when he next saw him, even if he was in a hospital bed.

Leon had driven as quickly as he could to the other side of Washington D.C to reach the hospital, he had taken every shortcut he knew, but he had still taken a fair amount of time to get there. He pulled up into the car park on the furthest side of the hospital, the white beam of the headlights sweeping over the gardens. Stepping out of the car, he slammed the door shut, tuning the key in the door to lock it. He stuffed the key into the pocket of his fleece jacket and strolled down to the pavement, walking along to the entrance of the hospital.

"Leon!"

Leon turned around to face the person who had called his name. Jogging up to him were Chris and Billy, both dressed in dark jeans and black turtleneck sweaters. They also both wore the same tired, drawn and slightly depressed expressions.

"So the mission went well then?" Leon asked as the pair drew level with him.

"Why do you say that?"

"You both look tired and depressed…I was being sarcastic"

"Uh-huh"

"So what happened?" Leon inquired turning back to walk to the entrance of the hospital, Billy and Chris at each shoulder.

"We'll tell you when we all get back home…now is not the time or place to discuss it" Chris said shortly

"Fair enough…where're the girls? And Billy said the info couldn't wait"

Chris was the one to answer "Jill and Claire are having a 'girl talk' and Rebecca is with Carlos"

"And I was clearly wrong about the info having to wait" Billy rolled his eyes, sniffing slightly

Leon grinned slightly at Billy, and continued to stroll towards the building.

It was a five minute walk, and the three men spent it in silence, each thinking about their own problems and situations.

Upon entering the waiting room, Leon saw Claire and Jill, sitting in the turquoise- green chairs, whispering childishly to each other. They looked up at the approaching men and finished their conversation quickly, plastering smiles onto their faces as the men raised an eyebrow each.

Seeing his expression, Claire leapt to her feet and charged at Leon, throwing her arms around her husband's neck, in the way a newly wed bride might.

"Leon!" she exclaimed, kissing him on the cheek and burying her head in his neck. Leon for his part merely chuckled and grasped her back, holding her against him.

"I take it you're ok, then?"

Claire nodded against his neck and continued to press herself to his body. Leon stroked her back with one hand, the other smoothing out her rumpled hair.

"What about you Jill?"

"Yeah, still a little dizzy but fine other than that" she informed Leon, grumbling slightly as she did. Seeing the look on his face that asked her to elaborate, she added "I got smashed in the head with a gun"

Leon nodded and sat down in the chair next to Jill, while Chris took up the other side, the one that Claire had been sitting in. Claire herself was curling up in Leon's lap. Billy was sitting to Leon's right, now absently playing with his dog tags, running his fingers over the engraved surface.

"I wish that we'd be allowed to see Carlos" Jill commented, and Leon felt Billy flinch a little at the mention of Carlos. He sighed inwardly at Billy's reaction.

"They might not let us in today, he's, what, been shot in the chest, right? So he's probably not going to be able to see us for a couple of days yet" Leon stated, waving his hand around importantly as he did.

"Leon…is there something you're not telling us?" Billy asked, out of the blue

"No…why?" Leon asked slowly, his forehead lowering as he tried to figure out what his friend meant

"It's just that your wrist seems very limp today" Billy finished with a grin

"HEY!"

"Knock it off you two!" Chris half-yelled, half-whispered at the now squabbling men

The two stopped and stared at Chris, as though they were brothers that had been caught trying to get in the cookie jar by their father.

"Sir! Yes! Sir!" Billy saluted towards Chris, who glared before rolling his eyes and going back to his magazine.

"Uh…guys" a timid, quiet voice attracted the groups attention, and they looked up to see Rebecca standing in front of them, wringing her hands nervously. "You're allowed to see Carlos for a few minutes, under the condition that you don't stress him out too much" she grinned as she said the last bit and rolled her eyes in the direction of a tall doctor standing, talking to one of the nurses. He appeared to be trying to get her to go on a date with him.

"You gonna show us where then 'Becca?" asked Claire from Leon's lap, yawning slightly.

Rebecca nodded and led the way, leading them down several winding corridors.

Billy followed the group reluctantly, trudging along at the back, his shoulders slumped, hands in his jeans pockets, head well and truly down. More than once on the short trip, he saw one of the others glancing back at him in an almost anxious manner. When they did, he noticed instantly, so he looked up at them and gazed back in an indifferent way, they quickly pulled their gazes away. Everyone looked back at least twice…except Rebecca.

The walk to Carlos's room was only about five minutes long, but to Billy, it seemed to take forever. Sickeningly white walls surrounded him, fluorescent lamps buzzing over head, humidity encompassing him, making him sweat beneath the black turtle neck and absently, he felt it running down his back. It all looked so cold and dead, the smell of sanitizers stinging his nose once again. The hospital reminded him of so much, three unpleasant memories merged into one, all inside these cramped, never ending corridors.

Buzzing lights… _giant insects, humidity, wet, hot, cramped and dark, groans of the injured_…calling for a doctor or nurse…._jungle, mission, colleagues' betrayal, screams of the dying people, as the three other soldiers corralled and shot them_…. A tray of surgical instruments crashing to the floor..._machine gun fire, solid thuds as people hit the ground_… the group walking briskly to the room, their footsteps heavy.

Billy tried desperately to pull himself away, before he had that image of his commander smashing him in the face with his gun. It worked for a second, and then he was plunged back in, somewhere different this time…_never ending grey corridors, dimly light cells on either side of him as he was marched along by the guards_…Leon and Chris were slipping their arms around his waist, supporting him, pulling him forward, the others staring at him…_as he was taken outside and loaded into the jeep, judges words echoing in his mind_…. 'Billy, are you ok?'… _'To be executed on arrival'_… 'Come on, you can sit down when we get to Carlos's room'… _dreams of being marched to a room, where he'd finally serve out his sentence_.

Then he was back, in the hospital, being half dragged to a chair by Leon and Chris, and as Billy sat down, he realised he had never seen a place that reminded him of the Umbrella facility so much, and of course those memories came back too. But there had still been hope there, because Rebecca had been there and with him, now she was with the executioner on death row.

The memories and present had merged into one long confusing sequence, blending together, in a blur of death and suffering. He had thought, as a child, that he would never be more alone than when his mother had gone out and left him for hours at a time, or when he had spent his school breaks wandering around on his own. He was wrong; he had felt an inescapable depression at being sent to execution. He had had no hope then; his friends in the army had betrayed him, the only people who he had grown close to. But now, even that couldn't compare to his feeling of loneliness, and he realised that he really didn't trust them much at all…no, that wasn't true, he trusted Leon, Chris, Jill and Claire with his life and emotions. Rebecca, the only person who he had ever really been close to, had betrayed him. Now, he would trust Wesker more than he did Rebecca and Carlos…even though he wanted to trust Rebecca, he wanted to believe that she would be there for him…but how could she be, she was with Carlos.

Leon's arm was around his back, gently trying to comfort him, and Billy suddenly stood up, feeling uncertain about it, whether he could trust Leon now…every one else had let him down, why not Leon too?

"I'm o..Ok" Billy stammered out, moving away from the outstretched arm of Jill "I just…blanked out for a moment…just got reminded of" he paused and swallowed "death row, a little" he nervously laughed and grinned "long, blank corridors, you know?"

Leon and the others nodded, they had all seen prison and death row, the most unpleasant places in the world…second only to the former Umbrella corridors, or Raccoon city, when everyone had turned into zombies.

"You're ok now though?" it was Rebecca and Billy could barely look at her. She hadn't got the usual soft, melodic voice now, the perpetual cheerfulness. It wasn't filled with concern either, or tiredness. Instead, it was almost pure irritation, annoyance at Billy's behaviour.

"Uh-huh" Billy replied, head still down as he stared at the floor. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rebecca glare at him, and she snorted, turned sharply on her heel, and continued to lead the way. Claire and the others exchanged glances, not expecting Rebecca to act like that. Putting her hand on his shoulder, Claire gently persuaded Billy to move, and, hesitantly, he walked with the rest to Carlos's room.

No-one could quite figure out why Rebecca had suddenly turned on Billy, the young medic was usually so easy going, cheerful and understanding, that they didn't think she had it in her to become almost disgusted with the man who, once upon a time, could have been her lover.

Billy returned to his sullen silence, his eyes still focused on the floor, and Jill felt a swell of pity for Billy, something she was sure everyone else felt too. She studied him carefully for a moment, then looked to Rebecca who was slowing to stand next to a door to Carlos's room.

Jill hung back as Rebecca walked in, followed by Leon, Chris and Claire, each of them looking sympathetically at Billy before they entered.

"You don't have to go in if you don't want to" Jill stated as Billy approached the door, she was sure that the expression Billy was wearing now, was identical to the one he wore when he had been loaded up into that military jeep, to be taken to his own execution.

Billy raised his head to glance at her, and he smiled weakly, a slight tugging at the corners of his lips.

"I know…but if I don't he'll get back at me for it…besides, he'll let me know if he doesn't want me there" with that said, Billy slipped into the room. Jill stood for a moment, gathering her thoughts; this was probably going to turn out to be a disaster.

Carlos looked up and grinned tiredly as his friends walked into the room behind Rebecca. Chris, Leon and Claire were there, and he was guessing Jill and 'the convict' were waiting outside. That suited Carlos fine, it would give him another chance to prove to Rebecca that he was the right choice, that she could be marrying him, Carlos Oliveira, and not have any feelings for ex-lieutenant Billy Coen. The guy had serious problems and Carlos didn't truly believe that Billy was innocent. His looks and the way he acted was the same as those men he had known while he was working for the U.B.C.S (Umbrella Bio-hazard Countermeasure Service), that had taken pleasure in killing. It was perfectly feasible to Carlos that Coen had murdered23 innocents; he believed that the man could easily do that.

"How you feeling Carlos?" Chris asked, stepping to the side of his bed, Claire next to him. Leon and Rebecca were standing on the other side of the bed.

"Not too bad…considering I've just been shot in the chest"

"Heh…I suppose that's a good sign…if it's not that you're becoming numb because of the bullet" Leon commented, laying a hand on Carlos's shoulder.

Carlos smiled back at him slightly, turning his attention to the door as it opened and produced a very anxious looking Billy and Jill. Carlos's smile disappeared the second Billy came in, and was replaced by an angry frown.

"Easy" Chris muttered to him, mimicking the stance Leon had taken, one hand on his shoulder, the other on the railing of the bed, gripping tightly, knuckles turning white.

Carlos ignored him, deciding to show Rebecca who was the 'better' man instead. "So…you've come to visit me Lieutenant Coen…how nice for me. I'll rest easy tonight in the knowledge that I'll be murdered in my sleep. After all, that's what you do isn't it?...murder helpless innocents"

Carlos felt Leon and Chris's hands tighten simultaneously on his shoulders. Billy for his part did nothing more than keep his gaze steady on Carlos's face. Claire and Jill began to look anxiously between the two men; Rebecca sat by his side, making no movement whatsoever.

"No answer…shows how intelligent you are, I suppose that's why you worked in the army…you're dumb" Carlos continued to goad Billy.

Billy didn't want to make the situation any worse than it was, but he couldn't help himself and replied with "I suppose we're even then…after all, you worked in the army too…oh wait...you were a mercenary originally, not even part of a real army"

Carlos brow lowered and his dark brown eyes locked with Billy's blue ones as he glared at him.

"I haven't murdered anyone"

"Is that what you call being a soldier…not murdering, last time I checked it was a soldiers job to kill. No matter what he was protecting, it's their job to kill"

"At least when I did kill I was protecting someone, instead of killing for sport"

Billy merely rolled his eyes, and looked out of the window.

"Awww…gazing at your precious thinking spot. Or were you just trying to get Chris alone? I've heard the affects if being locked up in prison without any company can leave a lasting need. Incidentally, how was the bromine?"

Billy snorted and clenched his fists, continuing to look away. Chris and the others looked at Carlos, he had never sunk to that level before, bringing up the conditions of being around members of the same sex for a year, because Billy was in prison was about the lowest he could go with his comments.

Carlos sneered at Billy's reaction, taking the action as a defeat. The rest of the group looked at Billy, waiting for his reaction, but the ex-serviceman did nothing but look out of the window for a moment. Finally, he turned back to the group's gazes and, giving a curt nod to them, stepped out of the room.

"Coward" Carlos muttered.

Jill shot an angry glare to Carlos, as did Claire and Leon. Jill hadn't trusted Billy when he first appeared, but she had learnt to, like Rebecca and everyone else had…except Carlos. The mercenary wasn't a bad guy, and she still cared for him, it was just she didn't expect or like one of her closest friends to treat another human being like that...especially not someone she found that truly was trustworthy. The fact that he was in hospital and recovering from an injury was no excuse, especially since Billy was the one who had pulled Carlos out, stopping him from getting injured further.

Rebecca, as before was completely silent, almost unblinking looking as though she was in a trance. Chris stared down at Carlos condescendingly.

Jill was about to try and sidle out of the room to comfort Billy, when a doctor came in. She sighed mentally, glad that she didn't have to make and excuse, muttered a slightly stony 'Goodnight Carlos… see you later' and exited through the door. Leon, Claire and left in much the same manner, Rebecca grudgingly following them, before running back to kiss him goodnight and then calling a cheery goodnight to him.

Carlos's eyes lowered then rose to the doctor, who was looking expectantly at Chris.

"Uhh…sir, I'm afraid you're going to have to leave now. Visiting hours finished long ago and the ward will be going to sleep soon" the doctor stuttered out, as he met Chris's gaze.

The elder Redfield sibling held the gaze almost challengingly, stone faced, then curtly announced "Of course. But I'm afraid that I must speak to Carlos with now, it's very urgent and it simply cannot wait until tomorrow. It'll only take a minute, I assure you."

There was so much command in Chris's voice, coupled with determination and the refusal to leave, that the poor doctor could barely look at Chris and mutter "Yes, I'm sure that a few minutes won't hurt" then scurry to the safety of one of the nurses.

Carlos looked up at Chris, concerned and confused, what was so important that he had to send his physician hurrying away, though he had a fair idea. Chris turned slowly, having watched the doctor leave, and stared at Carlos sternly.

"Chris…what's up?" he smiled, trying to brush away the uneasy feeling he got at Chris's looks. The blue eyed man leaned his hand on his friend's bed, one on either side of Carlos's waist and moved his face until he was staring directly into his eyes, mere centimetres away. The south-American fidgeted uncomfortably under Chris, for some reason getting the idea that this was not going to be good. Chris's piercing eyes narrowed towards him.

"Listen to me Carlos, and listen carefully, because I'll say this once only. You may be my friend, and a good one at that, but so is Billy. I don't like how you're treating him, and I won't stand for it, even if he does." He stared to let it sink in and then continued, almost growling "That man has risked his life for you, me, Rebecca, Jill, Claire and Leon in the two years we've known him. He has done nothing to you, but you treat him like dirt. This hospital bed will do nothing to protect you if you carry on. Your comment today was the lowest I've ever heard." Again Chris stopped to glare "The only person I've ever heard voice a comment as low as that is Wesker, and you know how I feel about him. I suggest you stop treating Billy like this. I don't expect you to treat him like your best friend, just civilly…OK? If you don't, I will make sure you know where I stand" Chris pushed himself away from Carlos and straightened up.

"You'd hurt me?"

"Do you remember what I did to Leon?"

Carlos nodded and shuddered "Well, it won't be as bad as that….but close. Billy doesn't deserve to be treated like that"

He turned and walked for the door. "Goodnight Carlos…remember what I've said"

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Please keep reviewing...I'm trying to beat my friend Rosie at getting reviews...even though she hasn't even finished her first story...but, whatever.

Any suggestions for the story etc, anything that you would like to see included, review or e-mail me and let me know. As always reviews are greatly appreciated


	7. Chapter 7

Hiya loyal readers (let's admit it, you have to be loyal to get to this chapter) thank you for reviewing.

Sacharja - Uh, the story will be continuing to swap between worlds, but yes I am getting back to the point of the story.

And this is a very long chapter, even by my standards.

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Chapter 6

Jill ran down the corridor after Billy as she saw him turn a corner, heading to the reception room. "Billy!" she called and continued to run. She rounded the corner and saw Billy standing, waiting for her, hand on hip.

"What's with the running?….I was only walking slowly"

"I wanted to make sure you were OK"

"Yeah, I am. A little irritated over the bromine comment but…I've gotten so used to them" he shrugged at her to indicate he wasn't bothered.

"You seemed so angry at him"

"I am, and I'm also rational enough not to do anything about it. I'm concerned about Chris though. He said something about talking to Carlos"

"Oh God" Jill lowered her head, covering her eyes with her hand.

Leon, Claire and Rebecca turned the corner and stopped by Billy and Jill.

"Have you seen Chris?" Jill asked anxiously

"No…he hung back, but I'm sure he'll be here soon" Leon answered glancing behind him.

"We have to go back and make sure he hasn't done anything to Carlos…you know how he is"

Leon winced. He knew exactly how Chris was when he was being protective over a friend or family member….which happened to be most of the time.

About 8 years ago, Leon and Claire had started seeing each other and when Chris found out, he was not best pleased. He had dragged Leon off to the side from the group a couple of days later, where he threatened Leon, and emphasised his point by kicking him a couple of times. A while after that there had been a misunderstanding between Claire and Leon, leading to them both being very upset. Chris had made good on his promise to Leon, reducing him to a small, quivering puddle on the floor. Almost anyway, but Leon had needed several stitches from a wound on his head and it had taken Jill, Carlos and Barry to pry Chris off Leon.

Claire sympathetically patted Leon on the back, knowing what he was thinking about. "I'll go and get him" she offered "He's more likely to listen to me anyway"

"There's no need Claire, I'm right here"

"Chris" Jill drawled suspiciously "what have you said to Carlos?"

"Not much….just congratulated him for a job well done, other than getting shot…why?"

"No reason" Jill turned, then looked back over her shoulder "Are we going to Leon's?"

"Unless Leon has a problem with that, yes" Chris answered

"Leon doesn't have a problem with that…but he thinks that Claire does" Leon responded

"Why is Leon referring to himself in the third person?" Claire asked, raising an eyebrow

"Leon doesn't know" he shrugged and walked away "Come on, back to our place" Leon gestured for them to follow. Seeing the slightly concerned look on Billy's face, at his behaviour, he added in a baby-talk type voice "we have alcohol".

Claire and the rest of the group stared bemusedly as Billy sprinted down the corridor and out of sight. Leon glanced back at them and offered a small smile before chasing Billy down.

Sighing simultaneously the remains of the troop meandered down the winding corridors of the hospital, taking a full twenty minutes to reach the car, Leon and Billy, who by now was frantically jumping up and down in the passenger seat of the car and shouting that he wanted alcohol. Leon, for his part, was trying to get him to shut up by swatting him with a pack of cloths that he used to clean the windscreen. Chris sauntered over to the window and knocked on it, startling the two men out of their small scale argument. Leon grinned apologetically and motioned for them to get in the back of the car.

Jill, Rebecca and Claire slid in to the back seat of the car, sitting uncomfortably squashed. Looking at her husband, Claire called "Leon…there's no room for Chris"

"I can solve that" Billy stated "This car's an estate….Chris can sit in the trunk" Leon looked over at Billy then grinned at his brother-in-law "Go on"

Chris stalked off to the back of the car and then climbed in, frowning and muttering as he did so, then sat glaring at Billy jokingly as Leon reversed out of the parking space and drove back to his and Claire's apartment.

It was an hour later before the Umbrella-bashing entourage got into the apartment and flopped down onto the sofa and chairs whilst Leon went to make coffee. He reappeared a moment later and sat down by his wife who was staring at Billy, talking to the birds in the corner.

"Hey Billy, get here, you've got more important people to talk to than those lot, how about us lot" Leon stated, leaning back into the cushions of the sofa.

"Arggg, shut up Leon!" Savyna, the Hylian Night Star, called from the cage, donning her 'Zelda' voice and lecturing him, as the princess herself had once done, about manner and etiquette.

"Shhh!" Billy hissed at her before sitting on a cushion on the floor. "Where's the alcohol?" he asked Claire, looking at her hopefully.

"Later, Billy" she scolded

Chris began to explain to Leon what had gone wrong.

Wesker's office was situated in the North West area of the HCF compound, which the group had gone to in order to get information, in a small office block where the highest members at that particular compound have their offices. His office was on the furthest side, next to the wire fence, and the hardest to get into through legitimate security clearance.

Chris and the others merely ignored the option of going in through the front of the building, the normal entrance because 1. They didn't have security clearance and 2. The office took so long to find and get to that they had every chance of being seen by one of the other members of staff at the HCF compound.

Therefore, they had found out the location of Wesker's office some weeks prior, gained information on the codes they could perhaps need to get around the small block and found out when any guards might happen to wander past there.

Once this info was gained the planning had begun and they had devised a fool-proof plan. Unfortunately this 'fool-proof' plan had to be proved not to be 'fool proof' by the resident fool 'Carlos'. (Some good 'fooling' in there don't you think)

The plan had been simple enough, after finding out when Aaron and Wesker's meeting was they had prepared and left. They had climbed through a window at the furthest end of the building that was close to Wesker's office (which no one came to under any circumstances, lest they have a death wish). Once there, they had watched from around a corner until Aaron had gone into the room, and then listened through the door to the conversation from inside, taping it for further use.

The plan had been to get out of there the second they heard the chairs move back as the occupants of the room got up. Carlos, however, had been as cocky as ever and had insisted they watch what was going on. He had crouched by the door, watching through the gap at the scene, and then frantically scrabbled away when he had seen Aaron head to the door.

Aaron had left the room and immediately caught the scent of the intruders, and chased them down. When the fighting had began, Wesker had strolled out of his office, just in time to see Carlos being shot as the group dragged him through the window.

Thus, Carlos was in hospital with a shot wound in his chest.

"So…what did we actually find out?" Leon asked

"Mainly, just a few things. Number one" Chris began "Wesker and his 'buddy' have released a virus into two alternate worlds. These are, uh….Hyrule and what they are calling test subject world one…the world of the Soul Calibur warriors. We don't know the name of the virus yet"

"How is this affecting the people though?" Leon leaned forwards, pale faced at the thought of his friends in danger. It was Rebecca that answered. "Various ways, but because of the portal between the two worlds, the mutations have speeded up…the change in universe is acting as a catalyst, and so is the sword in the Soul people's world. Any relic or such in the world of Hyrule could act like this as well, providing there's some biological material in it."

Leon thought for a moment then muttered out loud to himself "the Triforce"

"The what?" Billy asked

"Triforce," Leon repeated and then continued to explain "The Triforce is the basis of Hyrule's, and probably the rest of that world's, providence. It's a religious symbol, a relic left behind by the three goddesses that created Hyrule. It contains the essence of the god's, which, presumably is organic, despite the fact it comes from a deity"

"So it's important, huh?" Jill questioned, head tilted

"Incredibly. The Triforce is what Link, Zelda and the Sages have protected from their enemy Ganondorf. That's Link's job as the Hero of Time, to protect the Triforce, that's why he holds a piece of it. If the Triforce is somehow infected, either through Link or otherwise, then it could cause mutations like in the Soul warrior's world."

"That is not good" Chris commented "Especially considering that the creatures have already started mutating and if those freaks, Wesker and Aaron, carry out their plan for fun then…" he trailed off, causing Leon to look at him

"Plan for fun? What are they doing?"

Chris gulped slightly and looked to the others as if to ask whether he should tell him. They nodded and he cast his eyes to the floor and answered "Zelda is pregnant…and they want to see if they can infect the child"

"Then we have to get to Hyrule and warn them"

"We? I have no desire to go there with my fiancée in hospital. I'm sure Zelda is in no danger" Rebecca spat, an uncharacteristic hint of sarcasm and malice in her voice directed at Hyrule.

The group stared at her and she glared back at them angrily for a moment then dropped her eyes.

"Perhaps you should go on your own then Leon, and bring those who are fit to do something about it back here" Claire suggested, looking at her husband. Leon nodded his approval.

"Leave early in the morning then…we'll wait for you to come back here with a few if you get them to come."

With that, the group agreed, wishing each other goodnight and dispersing to where they were assigned to sleep.

Billy woke up late the next morning, head throbbing, and from his position from half-way fallen off the sofa, he could see everyone was up and keeping themselves amused somehow.

'_Geez, and I didn't even touch the alcohol last night' _he thought and grasped his head, watching the others.

Rebecca seemed to be in an improved mood this morning and was lying on the floor, having Jill paint her nails, whilst she flicked through a magazine. She was still in an unkempt state though, so he guessed she has only been up a little while, hell, the woman was still in her pyjamas.

Chris sat talking to someone, and it took Billy a moment to realise that Barry had arrived. He had been taking care of Sora for the past couple of days whilst the group carried out their plans. Leon, having been working late all week, had been unable to care for her.

The little 4 year old girl, Sora, was now sitting on her mother's lap, in the arm chair, talking excitedly about some cartoon show or something.

There wasn't, however, any sign of Leon. _'Guess he must have left already, dammnit!'_ He had wanted to see him off.

Shrugging slightly and stretching Billy sat up and rubbed his eyes, instantly drawing attention to himself.

"Well, sleeping beauty, looks like the prince has finally awakened you" Chris commented from his place by the glass coffee table in the centre of the room.

"Uumph"

"Uncle Chris, don't be silly, Uncle Billy isn't a princess…he's not even a girl" Sora commented, glaring at her uncle whilst the adults in the room tried to stifle a laugh.

"I'm sorry, Sora, you're right" he smiled at her softly

"That's Ok" she smiled back and went back to talking to her mother.

Billy smirked across at the slightly younger man and, wrapping the blanket he had been using around his body, made his way into the bathroom to shower.

Leon wandered around the park leisurely, keeping an eye open for the slight white glow that would alert him to the fact that a portal was nearby. He didn't have to wait long and he jogged to where he had seen the flash. Glancing around quickly to make sure no-one was watching, he slipped into Hyrule.

It was exactly how he remembered it. The fields were still rolling, covered in peridot green grass, scrubbed away in some places to form dust dirt paths by people or their animals. There were still strange bits of wall sticking out of the grass in seemingly random places and the water that rushed by in river was still as clear as ever.

He grinned slightly at the sight, taking in a deep breath of the clean Hyrulian air. The park in Washington D.C. was all well and good, but it was tainted by human maintenance and the air was thick with the stench of car fumes. On the plains of Hyrule, everything was wild and pure, exactly what he liked about this place.

Reminding himself of his reason for being here, he began to stroll quickly across Hyrule field, watching some of the more obscure Hylian wildlife that stopped and stared at the unfamiliar human, casting his eyes to the majestic silhouette of the Temple of Time and letting a true smile breakout on his face.

There was something different though. The feeling of the place seemed to be tense, even though he was a fair distance away from the castle and its people, a shadow of unease edged its way into his mind.

By the time he got to the drawbridge, his smile had been replaced with a deep frown, and he hurried to get over the drawbridge, walking through the town as quickly as possible and ignoring the looks of surprise from the startled Hylians.

He slowed his pace as soon as he was out of the town and walking up the path to the castle, fumbling around in his jacket for a permission slip Zelda and the King had given him when he left. In case he needed to get back into the castle one day, they had said. Placing the slip in his pocket he quickened his pace slightly, and tried to even out his breathing as he approached the guard.

The man was fully alert and watching Leon intently, a change from the usual slack standard of the guards. Liam must have been getting paranoid, Leon reflected, then again with the feeling he was currently getting, he didn't blame him.

Seeing that Leon was heading for him with a seemingly calm purpose, the guard loosened his grip on the spear slightly, and let his shoulders lower. If the man was a threat, he wouldn't be so calm, the guard reasoned.

Leon stopped in front of the soldier, looked him over briefly, then stated calmly "I'm here to see Princess Zelda and Prince Link, it's urgent"

"I'm sorry sir, but unless you have an invitation or an access slip, I can't let you in"

Leon rolled his eyes and fished the paper out of his pocket, presenting it to the guard. The soldier took it and studied it intently, checking the signatures of the King and Princess. Finally, he sighed and called to the soldier in the gate-house "Open the gate, this one's got authorisation"

Seconds later the gate crawled open and the guard handed the paper back to Leon. He nodded slightly and smiled.

"You're lucky, sir. The Royal Family is starting to be very particular about who is let into the castle. Your pass should be OK though, it does say to let you in under any circumstances…A word of advice….if you're going to mention the condition of the mutants, do it tactfully in front of the princess. She's worried about infection of the child and Sir Link will gut you alive if you upset her."

Leon smiled uneasily at the guard and jogged up the path to the drawbridge that would let into the castle. It was closed, and the guards in front of it were looking at him suspiciously. Without a word he handed the paper to them.

"This pass…it seems very unlikely that the King and Princess would give someone access under any circumstances"

"I'm a friend. I lived here a couple of years back."

"…your name?"

"Leon, Leon Kennedy"

The guards looked to each other and then one of them turned back to the castle.

"Kazta!" he called and a servant girl appeared on the walkway above the drawbridge and shouted a command to her. She paused and looked dubiously at Leon. "Now!" the guard shouted and she scurried out of sight.

"I apologise if you are telling the truth about being a friend of the family….but we can't be too careful in the current situation. The captain will verify the validity of your claim in a moment"

Leon nodded and put the paper in his pocket, then idly reached into his back pocket for something that was irritating him. He frowned as he slid his hand over the object, a small disk, about 8mm in diameter. It was ludicrously smooth, ridges running along it so that it was domed. Running his fingers over the smooth surface, he realised what it was. However, his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shout. He turned to his right to see Liam running at him an ever widening grin on his face. Upon reaching Leon he tackled him and locked him into a friendly embrace.

"Leon!" he exclaimed, his arms around the other man's back in an over zealous hug

"Liam…" Leon wheezed out with difficulty "I'm glad to see you to but…I can't breathe and this position isn't exactly ideal"

Liam suddenly got the idea and scrambled off him, standing up and dusting himself off then offering his hand to the other man. Leon took the offered hand and let Liam help him get to his feet.

"Heh…guess you're happy to see me then?" he grinned at the young Hylian

Liam merely rolled his eyes and led the way back into the castle. Leon trotted up behind him, and made his way to Liam's side

"So why are you here?" Liam asked, green eyes flicking back to his friend whilst he opened the side door and they made their way through the cloakroom.

"Do I have to have a reason, other than wanting to see my friends?"

"No…it's just that you come at a very convenient time considering our situation"

"I've been hearing those words a lot…I think I have an idea but fill me in on what the 'situation' is"

Liam sighed heavily, his eyes on the floor as they walked. Leon tilted his head slightly at his friends discomfort and he understood, when Liam mouthed the word 'Zelda' that she was nearby and it was a bad idea to talk about it.

Liam pushed a heavy oak door open into the conservatory area that looked onto the gardens. Sitting in a cluster of chairs were Link, Maxi, Siegfried and Yunsung. Next to them was a young man with dark brown hair that Leon didn't recognise. The King was sitting amidst the semi-circle, chatting casually with the assembly. Behind the row that consisted of the warriors were five people, the sages of Hyrule, but one of the chairs was empty. Guessing from the fact that Impa wasn't here and the King and Link looked slightly worried, Leon guessed that Zelda was having troubles with her pregnancy. All he hoped was that she wasn't infec…

"Sire, Leon's here" Liam's voice intruded into the Americans thoughts, though with the trail he was going down, he was kind of glad.

The King looked up, along with the rest of the group, including the Sages, and beamed at Leon. He rose from his chair and approached Leon and grabbed his hand, shaking it vigorously.

"Leon. It's good to see you to back in Hyrule. What brings you here?"

Leon gave a slightly forced smile at the question and replied "To see my old friends of course…along with some, uh, business"

Link knew immediately what this 'business' was, but nevertheless, he smiled at the dusty blonde haired man that he hadn't seen in so long. Each of the Soul warriors that knew Leon smiled and nodded at him and motioned for him to grab a chair and sit down. Liam made his way over to his seat next to Link, and Sheik, who Leon hadn't previously noticed, moved aside for him. Leon caught the Sheikah's glance towards him, and though there was no change in the facial expression, he knew that the shadow fighter was glad to see him.

"Leon, sit down and we'll introduce you to those you don't know" Link stated looking over at him. Leon nodded and slid into a chair next to the brown haired man.

Maxi suddenly took up the introduction of the man he was sitting next to and it was obvious that he thought highly of the man.

"The guy you're sitting next to is Kilik. An excellent warrior, if you ask me, and my closest friend. If you want spiritual advice or someone to confide in, Kilik is the man you want" Maxi grinned whilst he was said it.

Kilik for his part offered a small smile to Leon, and extended his hand, surprisingly nervously. Leon shook his hand then suddenly realised something. "Kilik…I've heard that name before…and I think I know where from, but…" Leon trailed off and shrugged and he noticed that Kilik relaxed a little, knowing that Maxi had probably been talking about him.

Link cleared his throat impatiently and glared death at Maxi and introduced the people at the back. "You've probably already guessed that the rabble behind us are the Sages, but I'll introduce you anyway." A large old man sitting the furthest away from Leon, but close to Link rolled his eyes at the young man's comment of 'rabble'

"This" Link announced, gesturing to the old man "is Rauru, the Sage of Light, and a _very _ancient sage" a glare followed that comment. Rauru was definitely sagely looking; he was mainly bald, save for a small crown of bushy white hair that seemed to be protecting the small pointed ears, rather than the skull. His skin was wrinkled, but a light brown colour, seemingly tanned but only coming from age, as far as Leon could see. He had small, but kind, blue eyes that seemed to exude wisdom and his lower face was covered with a bushy white beard. _Father Time _Leon thought to himself whilst nodding to the man in acknowledgement. The Sage of Light was dressed in long dull brown robes, looking like a sort of Hylian priest or monk, Triforce patterns etched into the front of a thick leather sash around his waist. The robes completely engulfed his arms, making his look like he didn't have any.

Moving on Link smiled when he turned his gaze on the next sage "This is Saria, the Sage of Forest, she's a Kokiri and uh…she sort of raised me from a baby" Leon studied the girl who offered a sheepish smile. She was definitely a Kokiri; she looked no older than ten. She was short, maybe only five foot or less. She had large blue eyes, a trademark all Kokiri had, but her hair was a sort of shiny pea green as opposed to the gingery blonde that the others had. She was dressed in shorts and a vest top the same colour as her hair. Underneath the top she wore an emerald green turtleneck jumper, which was the same colour as her knee high boots and hair band. There was a small silver necklace around her neck, on the end of which a light pink ocarina hung and a bright white fairy was flitting around her head. "Ah, so you're the one to blame for Link's weirdness" he grinned at her and she giggled back. As he was watching her laugh something small and hard smacked him in the side of the head and he realised it was a small whet stone that had been thrown at him by Link.

"The big guy is Darunia, leader of the Gorons, my sword brother and the Sage of Fire" Link grumbled out as Leon threw the stone back to him. Again Leon examined the mentioned person. Darunia was huge, even for a Goron, contrasting to such a degree with the small Kokiri that sat beside him that he wondered if he was dreaming. The rock skinned humanoid was a dark brown, a large round stomach hovering over his lap. He had small beetle black eyes but they seemed to be laughing, even if the guy himself wasn't smiling. His broad face was obscured with a dark grey beard that matched his wildly styled spiky hair. He had to be easily six and a half foot when standing, giving Ganondorf a run for his money, and his arms were muscular, as big as tree trunks. _'Reminds me of Barry'_ Leon thought, smiling at the Goron leader when he gave him a thumbs up. The only thing the man wore were some cords bound tightly around his wrists and ankles, but then, Gorons didn't wear clothes.

In the next chair was an elegant looking Zora, a female for a change, her long legs crossed, fins folded back neatly. "This is Ruto, the Sage of Water" Leon recognised her as the Zoran princess, without Link's introduction. At the moment though, the usually loud mouthed and bubbly woman, was meditating quietly, unaware of anything going on around her. She looked slightly pale though, as if she had had a bad scare at some point today.

The chair next to Ruto was empty, probably belonging to Impa.

Next to that was Nabooru, Queen of the Gerudo Thieves "You know Nabooru already but she's the Sage of Spirit". The woman was exactly the same as when he had last seen her. Well, not exactly, the last time Leon had seen her, she had been thin, injured and scared, she had even been crying. Now though, she sat with her back straight, jewellery bedecked hands folded neatly in her lap, her golden eyes looking over Leon. Her fire red hair, more so than Yunsung's, was pulled into a tight high ponytail, trailing down her back. She smiled at Leon at seeing him again, recognising him as the person who killed the Tyrant, full lips painted a light pink colour, contrasting with her deeply tanned skin. She still wore only a tube top and pants, both a light pink colour.

"Everyone, this is Leon, he comes from a more modern advanced world, but he's a great friend and help to Hyrule." Link said, nodding slightly as he did

Link turned to Leon as soon as the Sages lost interest in the newcomer, calling him over.

"Why're you here?" Link asked

"Why do you think?"

"You know about our problem"

"A little, fill me in"

Link rolled his eyes and quickly started to explain about the problem, Leon nodded as he described the mutations.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, Chris and the others have been keeping tags on certain enemies and we know who's caused all this"

"You know?" The King exclaimed, jumping from his chair "Who is it; I'll kill the little…"

"SIRE!" The cry, surprisingly, came from Sheik, standing by Link's side. All eyes turned to look at the red eyed man who quickly explained "I'm sure Leon will tell you if you stop shouting about what you're going to do with this person"

The King took a deep breath and then turned to the startled Leon "Who is it then?"

"You won't know him, but I'll tell you anyway. He's a long time enemy of our group. Chris, Jill and Rebecca were once part of a team called S.T.A.R.S, the enemy was their captain. He betrayed them on a mission and because of him seven members of that team are dead"

"Nice person" Maxi commented "So we've definitely got your group against him? It sounds like you guys know a lot about him"

"Chris keeps an eye on him. He's dangerous, which is why Chris hasn't killed him yet, but I think this event might be the final straw. They're going to have some sort of showdown, I'm sure. One will end up dead, and unfortunately, I think it'll be Chris"

"What's his name?" Kilik asked from his place across the room

Leon looked at him for a moment and then replied with "Wesker"

At this piece of information, Siegfried almost broke into tears, or so it seemed.

"What's wrong with you?" Yunsung asked nudging him

"Why is it always the Germans who are bad guys?" Siegfried mumbled from his hiding place in his arms.

"He's not German. He's American, always has been, just has a slightly German background"

"Close enough" Liam muttered, tapping his chin and looking out the window

"Wesker is a surname though" Siegfried stated, looking to Leon "First name"

"I don't want to say. It's lame so it'll take away the effect of how dangerous he is, I don't want you to let your guards down because of it"

"Oh come on" Yunsung whined "How's a name gonna change anything?"

"Fine, his name is Albert"

Yunsung and Maxi suddenly broke out laughing, causing Leon to mutter "See what I mean"

Link smacked Maxi and Yunsung on the side of their heads, trying to get them to shut up.

"What abilities has he got?"

"Well…he's incredibly intelligent, he has to be to create the virus, he's intimidating, and he has super human powers. That's enhanced senses, speed and the strength of about five men put together"

"Five men?" Kilik asked "How?"

"About six years ago, when he was leading Chris and the others on their mission, he injected himself with a virus that he got from a scientist friend…He's simply not human anymore"

"How experienced is he in military tactics?" It was Yunsung who asked this

"Did you not hear me!" Leon shrieked "He was the leader of S.T.A.R.S an elite police force, Special Tactics And Rescue Squad. He's also the man that the company he works for, HCF, uses to steal virus samples and data from top security facilities of their competitors"

"Experienced then, huh?" Maxi commented

Leon gave him a 'well, duh' look and turned to the King. He was sitting back in his chair, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"And you say that people from your world who know him well can't defeat him with your more advanced weapons?"

"I wouldn't say we _can't_, we just haven't. The problem is that Wesker is so fast that if we did manage to shoot him then…depending on where the shot was, he could just get away, pull out the bullet and be healed by the end of the day"

"….any other points about how dangerous he is?"

"He has one accomplice, a man called Aaron…but I wasn't filled on him before I came here. But he's working with Wesker so I'd say he'd pretty dangerous"

"His plans and reasons?" Link asked

"Not 100 sure. He might just be trying to cause trouble, but he probably reckons that if he can take over one world, he can take over ours. The symptoms of those in the Soul Calibur world are close to Siegfried's when he turns into Nightmare. Listen to this."

Leon pulled out a CD and a compact disc player. Sometime during the night, Chris had logged onto Leon's computer and transferred the conversation between Aaron and Wesker onto it, before burning it onto a CD for Leon's use.

The assembled group, looked sceptically at the shiny disc in Leon's hand as he put the disc inside the player and found the point on the disc. He had listened to it as he had jogged to the park that morning to find the warp entrance and had taken long enough in the park to listen to the half hour long conversation. He plugged a small pair of earphones into it and turned them up as far as possible before pressing the play button.

"_Generally the flesh will thicken immensely, taking on a dull red, brown or green colour" _The voice that poured from the speakers was strangely machine like, wooden and unused. The group guessed that this was Aaron, they couldn't imagine the veteran Wesker sounding this mechanical and programmed_. "The veins multiply, rising to just under the surface of the skin, spreading randomly across the body. More recent subjects have developed wounds lined with teeth and are starting to develop yellow eyes on any part of the body"_

"_And these are all influenced through the sword catalyst?" _The second voice was deeper, cold and controlled. A strong voice to match its owner, a mid-Atlantic accent present, English mixed with American.

"Is that Wesker?" the King broke in and Leon nodded as the conversation continued

"_Yes"_ The first voice, Aaron, again

"_Interesting. Very interesting"_

"_Do we have a subject yet…one who is infected, but not mutating yet?"_

"_No, the humans infected are immediately destroyed by the warriors who defend the sword." _At this the group heardWesker growl at the information

"…_meddling fools, they'd get along well with Redfield and his motley crew of do-gooders…what else?_

…_.Judging from the sample of DNA from the sword, the virus should let the body and mind be controlled once it's in the later stages…we'd have an army of bio-weapons, completely under our control."_ This again was Wesker, and the CD had played the sound of fingers tapping at a keyboard moments before he said this.

Leon turned the CD player onto pause.

"He wants to use the people as an army" Kilik stated, turning concerned brown eyes to Leon's grey-blue ones. Leon nodded and then swallowed, he would have to tell the King and Link at least about Wesker's plans for the baby.

"There are also other issues that I need to address with the King, Link …possibly Impa and Zelda" Leon started, hand in his pocket nervously playing with his car keys.

"About?"

Heads turned to the door as Zelda stepped into the room, dressed in a lilac shift, silver thread woven over it. Impa was following the young women, watching her carefully. The princess had collapsed earlier, grasping her abdomen and crying that something was wrong with the baby.

"Uhhhh….." Leon faltered and glanced back to the men sitting behind him. He locked eyes with Siegfried and muttered something to him in German. The blonde stared at him, before turning to Link and whispered the message to him. In turn Link motioned to the King to stall Zelda somehow.

"Zelda" the king started, turning to his daughter "I know you're concerned over what Leon has to say, but you could at least greet him, he is your friend after all"

Zelda lowered her head, as if ashamed and then looked up at Leon. She smiled apologetically "I'm sorry Leon, I should have greeted you first, but I'm just worried in case this is something to do with the little one" she glanced at her stomach "Anyway, it's good to see you again. How's Claire?"

Leon answered, chatting casually whilst Link slipped out the room. After a few minutes of talking to Zelda the King called Zelda over and Leon took this as his queue to excuse himself under the pretence of needing the bathroom.

He walked down the corridors for about five minutes before finding Link exiting into the stables at the back of the castle.

Leon hurried to catch the Hylian up. Link turned around and looked at him, walking towards the area where Epona was grazing in a paddock, with Leon's old horse, Thara.

"This isn't going to be good news, is it?" Link asked after watching the mare and stallion move around the area, occasionally raising their heads to playfully nip each other, in an attempt to keep each other at a suitable distance.

"I'm afraid not. Which is why I wanted to let you and the King know before Zelda heard….it's bad enough for me as a friend to hear about it…but it'll be the hardest on Zelda"

"What is it?"

Leon sighed "It'll be better if you hear it straight from the horses mouth…so to speak" he pulled out the CD player he had put away and wound it to the right place.

"_Aaron…why do you have these?" _There was the sound of something being shuffled and Leon mouthed 'photos' to Link

"_I thought it might be interesting to see how the two blonde Hylians react to the virus"_

"_Explain…and why those two?"_

"_They are husband and wife, and she is pregnant…it could be an interesting study to see if the child was_

_born mutated…and she has not seen the mutations yet"_

There was a long pause before Wesker slowly answered and Link could imagine a smug grin spreading across the face of the man_ "……I see…you're right, it will make an interesting study…but you must make sure that only the child gets infected, not her. This may be scientific, but I would love to see how these sensitive people react when their child is born a freak…emotional torture is so enjoyable when you can't suffer it…how far along is she?"_

"_About five months, sir"_

"_Then there's still enough time for the child to mutate…you must keep a close watch on her and see that it gets infected"_

"_You are aware of the mutations of the other races now?"_

"_Yes, you can go now…get back quickly. I have to return to my duties in a moment"_

Link stared at the small piece if equipment in horror, hearing the last few sounds on the CD but not paying attention to them.

"I'm sorry, Link….I don't know if Zelda has been infected yet though…there may still be hope"

Link shook his head, then looked to Leon tears gathering in his dark blue eyes as he gazed hopelessly at his friend.

"She was attacked the other day, by a rather bland looking man. He didn't do much that I saw, but he could've done anything to her by the time I got there. She collapsed this morning, screaming that there was something wrong with the baby…it's infected." He finished and looked back to the horses in the field. As he was staring at them something close to bloodlust passed across Link's delicate features then changed to a sudden realisation.

"Rewind that thing, go back to where Wesker tells Aaron to go" Link almost ordered, whipping round to face Leon.

Leon for his part looked confused, and then did as he was told. After the last line there was the sound of a group of people panicking, stumbling to their feet as a door banged open and closed and there was a shout from Carlos as the group retreated from Aaron.

"Play it again…louder this time" Link asked

"Link, the last sound is of Carlos shouting as they tried to get away from Aaron"

"That's not what I'm interested in, I think Wesker says something else…play it again"

Leon did so, and straining his ears, underneath the shout of Carlos, was Wesker's voice.

"What did he say?" Leon asked. Link looked at him then shook his head.

"I can't tell…but I think he names the virus, he says something about 'spread your disease'"

"Link, get Maxi, Liam, Sheik, and anyone else who's coming on this little mission to meet me outside the drawbridge on the plains. Tell the King about Zelda…he can decide what to do about Zelda"

"Why?" Link asked

"You're coming to my world"

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Please continue to review 


	8. Chapter 8

Hi, still not owning anything, still only getting two reviews for each chapter...I'm dying of a lack of revieessssss...I'm begging you, review, my life depends upon it.

Another thank you to Sacharja for your helpful comments, and I apologise if the story isn't meeting your expectations...hopefully it'll pick up soon

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Chapter 7

Link had barely had time to process the information before Leon sprinted away. He wasn't sure if he wanted to leave Zelda's side for any length of time, but he supposed he could only defeat this enemy in Leon's world.

Sighing, he jogged into the castle to find the King sitting on his own in the throne room, his gaze distant and concerned. Link filled the King in, told him that he would be away and he was leaving Zelda here, before dashing to find the other men. He found them sitting in the dining room, chatting quietly.

"We're going to Leon's world. Meet me at the gate in five minutes, I'm going to see Zelda" he briefly informed them then ran to find Zelda, in their room.

"Zelda?" he asked cautiously, seeing his wife looking at him concernedly

"You're leaving, aren't you?"

"…Yes. I'll be back as soon as I can. I don't want to go….but I have to. We have to stop Wesker. Impa'll keep an eye on you and I'll contact you as much as I can." He knelt down by the side of the bed and looked up at her, wiping away the tears that were now streaming down her face. As he was doing so she reached down and caressed his cheek, drawing him up to kiss her.

Zelda pressed her head against Link's chest after the kiss had ended, weeping gently into his tunic front, clutching the green fabric as she felt her husbands arms around her back. Finally, she sniffled a little and drew herself away, smiling gently.

Link leant forwards as Zelda pulled away, and kissed her pale cheek. "I'll be back soon" he whispered in Hylian, before grabbing the Master Sword from the side of the bed where he had left it earlier. Slipping it onto his back, he grabbed his quiver, bow and shield, then smiled at her weakly then left.

Zelda watched the door close and then threw herself against her pillow, wailing and sobbing, salty tears sliding down to her chin and in between her lips as she gasped for breath, her body rising off the bed every time she took in a shaky breath.

There was a knock at the door and the King, her father, stepped in without waiting for her answer. She looked up, expecting him to be wearing a comforting smile. Instead, she got grave set features gazing back at her sorrowfully.

"Zelda…there's something I need to tell you"

Link found Sheik, Maxi, Liam, Siegfried, Yunsung and Kilik waiting for him by the outer gate of the castle. Upon seeing him Maxi flashed a smile to him, but Link found he couldn't return it, and Maxi's expression changed to sympathy over Link's sadness. Liam saw this and put his arm around Link's shoulders, but his brother shrugged out of the embrace, not wanting the other men to see him cry.

Link turned and seeing the almost offended expression on Liam's familiar features he mumbled out an apology, adding that he was just concerned about Zelda.

He guessed it worked because Liam nodded understandingly.

"We should meet Leon" Link mumbled and the group walked towards Hyrule field. After a few minutes of walking through town, they made out the tall figure of Leon, pacing by the drawbridge as he waited for them. Link raised his hand and Leon caught the movement with his eye, stopping to watch the group of seven men walking towards him.

"You ready to go? Leon asked and the group nodded in agreement.

They walked in silence, save for the occasional cough or sniff or sneeze. Leon was at the lead of the group, striding along with an easy confidence that was strange for him, Yunsung just behind him, looking bored at the lack of conversation. Maxi and Kilik walked side by side, occasionally glancing at each other, uncomfortable with the silence that had settled over the group. Siegfried and Sheik were just behind them, Siegfried walking with surprisingly long strides for his height, whilst Sheik walked with a quick, almost trotting compared to Siegfried's easy gait.Liam was off to the side of the group walking with light steps, casting his eyes around the field for signs of danger.

Link hung at the back of the group, having trouble with keeping up with his now heavy, burdened steps.

At the front of the group, Yunsung had quickened his pace and brought himself up to Leon's side, to speak with the older man.

"So," he started, turning to look at the dusty blonde haired man "What's your world like?"

"Different. It's over populated, polluted and not worth the trouble sometimes. It's nothing like this world, where this is beautiful and green and natural, my world is grey and ugly and man made."

"You think a lot of it then?"

"Heh…the city's are typically ugly, but the parts of the world that haven't been tainted by man are beautiful….which is why I still fight for it"

"How do we get there?"

"Same way as you got here…a portal….the only problem is going to be your clothing"

"What's wrong with it!" Yunsung shrieked, offended, looking down at what he was wearing.

"Nothing, it just doesn't fit in with modern styles…you're fine really Yunsung, you just need a different shirt" Leon shrugged "It's the rest that we're going to have trouble with" he flinched his head towards the rest of the group.

"Your people have no taste, Leon" Link commented, trying to lighten his own mood

Leon sniffed good naturedly and turned to the white patch on the wall ahead "perhaps not…but you still won't fit in"

They approached the portal, and checked around before Leon stepped through followed by Yunsung, Maxi, Kilik, Siegfried, Sheik, Liam and finally, Link.

Yunsung stepped onto the unfamiliar grass of Leon's world and recoiled at the sudden smell that was apparent to him in the air. It was a heavy stench of an oily smell, almost burning and it made the air around him seem dull, lifeless and humid.

"Geez, what is that smell?" he asked Leon, who was standing just ahead of him

"Car fumes…you'll get used to it, but it is a bit of a shock if you've never smelt it before"

"Right"

He suddenly noticed Leon's gaze travelling over him. "What're you looking at?"

"Your new shirt, is all"

Looking down, Yunsung himself noticed that his clothing had changed. Instead of his usual cropped orange and white costume top, he was wearing an orange t-shirt, the sleeves white with black around the hemline. The rest of his outfit was exactly the same, save for the lack of the extra belt that usually encircled the top of his trousers.

"Not too bad" Yunsung commented looking himself over

He was perhaps going to say more when Maxi stepped through and the two earlier arrivals instantly looked him over. Maxi's white sailor pants had been replaced with black jeans; slight gold depictions of oriental dragons, weaving over the thighs (think Maxi's second costume in SC2…the one where he's blonde). His top was merely a white undershirt, tucked into his jeans, the top of which was laced with black tribal patterns.

Maxi immediately registered what they were looking at and merely rolled his eyes, moving to stand by Yunsung.

"You look like Billy" Leon commented

"Who?"

"A friend, you'll meet him when we get to my apartment….now where the hell are the others?"

"They're coming, don't stress out….I think they're just a little more apprehensive, and Kilik hadn't even got used to Hyrule yet" Maxi answered

One by one, the five other men filed out of the portal. Kilik was now wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, some kind of studded army style belt over them, and an open fronted dark red jacket, a white t-shirt under it.

Siegfried was next, looking disgruntled as his hair was now tied back, and a good ten inches shorter so that it only just reached past his shoulders. He was wearing a pair of green combat pants, a dark brown turtle neck sweater, similar to Leon's own black one and a pair of brown boots.

After this came Liam and Link, their caps now gone, they now wore a layered long sleeved shirt and white tracksuit bottoms, like Yunsung's training pants. The only difference between the two outfits was that Liam's shirt was dark blue on top with white under sleeves and Link's was a dark green. The two, however, seemed completely comfortable within the new clothing. The only thing out of place, were their large eyes and ears, but Leon was certain that people here in Washington DC were so busy with their own lives, that they wouldn't notice the elfin boys.

Link seemed to have cheered up a small amount, being excited about new world had that affect on him, and whilst he was still worried about Zelda, he may as well enjoy his time in Leon's modern world.

"Is everyone here?" Leon called from Link's left and he turned to look at the local.

"Everyone except Sheik…he may be having problems with his costume though"

"He's going to have to deal with it"

"But if his face is uncovered….." Link trailed off. In the Sheikah culture, young unmarried men had to keep their faces covered until they had a wife. This, at least, stopped them from being judged on their looks, ensuring that the women would find a man who wasn't cocky about their looks.

"He'll have to deal with it, besides, all the women he's going to meet are going to be engaged, married or well, girls about 4 years old" Leon snapped

"4 year old girls?" Yunsung asked

"My daughter, Sora" Leon explained

"So who exactly are we going to be meeting and presumably working with?" Maxi asked

"Well…"Leon began "There's Chris, Claire, Billy, Jill, Rebecca and possibly Barry and Carlos…though I doubt you'll get to meet Carlos as he's in hospital…he was shot" he added seeing the questioning gaze from Kilik.

Maxi opened his mouth to ask something, when an extraordinarily unhappy and irritable Sheik stepped out of the portal, wearing his new modern clothes.

"Don't say a word!" he exclaimed, pointing angrily at Link, glaring at every one else.

Sheik was now wearing a pair of bluish-purple jeans, and a long sleeved close fitting t-shirt in the same hues. The lower half of the sleeves were a greyish white colour, along with the collar of the shirt and a large red Sheikah eye decorated the front of it. There were a pair of fingerless black gloves on his hands. His usual white turban was gone, leaving his blonde hair to fall past his shoulders in a somewhat tangled mess, some of his hair still covering his eye. The mask however, was completely gone, with nothing to replace it, and it was probably this that was most irritating the young Sheikah. He brushed his fingers along his jaw line self-consciously, not used to having his face completely bare.

Leon grinned, but said nothing, turning back to face the path that would lead them back to the main part of the park.

"Guys, follow me. We'll go back to my apartment and you can meet everyone"

The others nodded in compliance and began following Leon out of the foliage. As they got into the rest of the park to look at this new world, they stared round for a moment at the towering buildings that encircled the park on every side.

"Wow," Yunsung mumbled "You weren't kidding when you said it was all man made, were you?"

Leon looked back and gave the twenty year old a reassuring smile.

"Come on, we'll walk there, it's not far…and don't stare too much, it'll attract attention. Link, Liam and especially Sheik, keep your eyes to the floor, and see if you can cover your ears somehow"

They hurried through the park, walking briskly to try and get away from the eyes of the public, but despite the warning, the three Hyrulians had trouble not looking at the new surroundings and so would occasionally raise their heads to look. When a woman saw the three of them, her eyes widened at their appearances and they scurried away, prompting Leon to move.

It was a twenty minute walk to get to Leon's apartment. Usually it was only ten, but with the rush hour crowd as it was, it was difficult to get through. Leon checked his watch, noting that it was 5:40pm and pressed through the last dregs of the crowd, to turn onto the path that lead to the block of flats. Turning around, he was relieved to see that the entire group had made it through safely without getting separated, even if they did look a bit dazed.

"Let's get in. I'm dying for a drink"

Link stepped after Leon, suddenly nervous at this new world, where there were too many people and not enough space. The others shared his sentiment and moved a little closer to each other unconsciously, except Yunsung. The Korean seemed to be having the time of his life, and perhaps it was not unexpected. He was used to large crowds, and ever since he met Leon, he seemed to have been keen to go to the future, especially after seeing the display of Leon's weapons when he had taken on the Tyrant, two years ago. He ran up to Leon, catching up quickly, whilst the rest of the group lingered, hanging back, unsure of this place. Maxi seemed not to be affected as much as the others either, he wasn't eager like Yunsung, but he was willing to have a look around this place and give it a chance. Siegfried looked unsure, but indifferent overall, he didn't care where he was, as long as Soul Edge was safe. Kilik shared the same idea as Maxi and walked along side him, glancing back at the three, clearly uneasy Hylians, who had fallen behind again. Leon turned to them "Look, the sooner we get inside, the sooner we're away from this noise and we can relax. Trust me, all my friends will accept you, so stop worrying and get inside"

He pulled the door to the front of the building and watched the group file through, then began leading them again. After a couple of flights of stairs, they reached a long white corridor, doors lining both walls on either side. Leon walked up the middle of the corridor, and then moved to the sixth door up on the left and Link moved after him quickly. His enthusiasm about this world was coming back now that he was over the shock of it. Yunsung was already by Leon's side, eager as ever as the others lightly walked up to them.

Smiling at being home, Leon pushed the door to his apartment open and stepped inside to a small cloakroom. Pulling off his jacket, he hung it up and slipped off his boots before opening the next door into the living room.

"Hey everyone," he greeted his own family, poking his head round the door. He motioned to the people behind him to close the door and stay where they were for the moment.

Inside the living room Leon's family and modern friends looked up and smiled at him in greeting. He noticed as he scanned everyone's faces, that Barry, Rebecca and Sora were missing, leaving Chris, Claire, Billy and Jill still in the apartment.

"Alright, Leon?" Billy asked from his place in an armchair, magazine in hand.

"Yeah, not bad….where's everyone else, Claire?"

His wife looked up at him "Rebecca went back to the hospital she's working and visiting Carlos at the same time" Leon noticed Billy wince slightly at the name "Barry took Sora to the park…I'm surprised you didn't see them on the way back"

"Probably too busy….I'll say hi to them when they get back"

"Has anyone come then?" Chris asked. He was sitting in the middle of the three seater sofa, Claire on his left, Jill on his right

"Yeah…7 came"

"Well, bring them in then. Don't leave them standing out there" Claire scolded

Leon rolled his eyes but stepped fully into the warm sitting room, pulling his gun holster from his shoulders, placing it on the table.

"You can come in then guys" he called, and the other worlders came nervously into the room. Yunsung was the first to step out, and even his bravado was failing him slightly. Siegfried, Maxi and Kilik came out together, followed by Link and Liam. Sheik edged his way out and stood at the back of the group, trying to hide behind the slightly taller figure of Maxi.

"Guys" he addressed the Soul Warriors and the Hyrulians "This is Chris and his wife Jill, my wife Claire and Billy"

Liam looked around at Leon's family and friends, and they in turn returned the gaze, studying him and the rest of the group.

Liam had seen a picture of Claire before, but he realised now that you really couldn't appreciate her beauty unless you had met her in real life. She was an average height, slim and curved her legs that were curled up underneath her, long and elegant. She had a somewhat long face, with highish cheekbones and clear blue eyes, chestnut hair that was pulled back into a tight pony tail framing her face.

The man, Chris, that was sitting next to her….well, you didn't have to be told to know they were siblings. He seemed to be a few years older than her, but had the same traits she did, chestnut hair, clear blue eyes, and a strong jaw line. His hair was slightly darker than hers, as was his skin, a slightly tanned hint present from his working outdoors a lot. He was tall, closing in on six foot, and his shoulders and chest were broad and muscular, but not to an excess. He seemed, like his sister, to have a strength about him, but also kindness.

Chris's wife, Jill, was leaning against him, her arm resting on his shoulder. She looked like some sort of super model, Liam reflected. She was as tall as Claire, and just as beautiful, but she had a more mature look to her, as well as more grace than Claire's tomboyishness. She was more formed than Claire, too, her waist seeming to taper more. She was paler than both her sister-in-law and her husband. Her eyes were a light almost transparent blue, almond shaped, short light brown strands of hair, spilling over her cheekbones at the moment.

Liam finally turned his attention to the last person Leon had named…Billy.

The man was sitting in an arm chair, casually stretched out and reading a magazine article. He was slightly shorter than Chris and Leon, and more heavily built. He was wearing a close fitting shirt like Maxi's, and it defined his muscular chest all the more as well as his small waist. A tattoo stretched down his arm. Unlike everyone else, his cheekbones weren't high and at first glanced he seemed rather bland and unremarkable to Liam and he had a rather broad, almost cat like looking face. His hair was a dark mahogany brown, loosely combed back from his forehead, and his eyes were incredibly dark. They were a sort of inky blue, looking black as he was sitting in a slightly darker part of the room. His skin was more tanned than Chris's and he gave off a hostile aura. He looked and felt dangerous to Liam.

The group that were assembled in the chairs around the room smiled at their guests and got up to greet them and Liam watched as Billy pulled himself out of the comfortable chair to stand up.

"Claire and everyone, before you greet the others, let me introduce them. This is Yunsung, Maxi, Siegfried, Kilik, Link, Liam and Sheik."

They nodded back and Leon slipped out of the living room and into the bedroom to get changed, leaving them to get acquainted.

Back in the living room, Claire glared at the retreating figure of her husband.

"Trust him to leave" she complained to no-one particular

Link caught the comment and tilted his head at it, watching her. Seeing that he had heard, Claire explained "Without giving us a decent introduction of who each of you are….but perhaps we should leave that for later." She stepped back to view all of the group that had now intermingled and she noticed that already, everyone had pretty much established who they liked the most.

Chris was standing off to the side, talking to Yunsung. Jill was talking to Sheik and Kilik, although she would occasionally throw a comment to someone else. Billy was talking, for him at least, comfortably to Maxi and Siegfried. Claire herself had been talking to Link and Liam.

"Alright," she raised her voice "Before you all get comfortable and sit down….who's hungry, 'cos it's about six o'clock and we were about to get dinner"

"I am" Chris called from by the TV "But not enough to eat your cooking and I'm sure Leon and Jill don't feel like cooking, so let's order a takeaway"

Claire glared at him and snorted before stalking away to find Leon.

"That was mean, Chris" Jill scolded

"It's the truth!" he protested "She can't cook to save her life!...neither can I, for that matter, runs in the family" he shrugged

"So what're we ordering?" Billy asked

"Depends what everyone else wants….as for me, I'm up for pizza" Chris answered. As he did Leon and Claire walked back in "We had pizza yesterday for lunch before we left for the compound" Claire complained

Leon rolled his eyes and slumped onto the sofa, resting his feet on the coffee table in front of him. The group were always arguing about what to order, and who was to say that the other worlders would even like modern junk food? He was willing to bet that they wouldn't think much of it. Shuffling up into a sitting position, he looked over at Claire, who was now trying to beat Chris up, and voiced his concerns.

"Guys!" They stopped and looked at him, in fact so did the rest of the group "I don't know whether you've considered this, but there's a distinct possibility that our guests won't like modern fast food"

"Chris and I were just talking about that" Yunsung put in "And I, at least, am willing to try anything once. Come on, it's not like we're going to get much of a chance to relax"

To Yunsung's surprise, Maxi looked at him and stated "I agree…..for a change"

The rest of the assembly promptly nodded in agreement at the statements.

"Fair enough….I think you have an answer, Leon" Billy sat down in the armchair again "Just a case of finding out who here wants what"

"Alright. Let's vote on it"

Whilst Leon called out various different cuisines that they could order, the warriors moved to the side to talk amongst themselves.

"Are you sure about this Yunsung?" Kilik asked "It's unlikely that we're going to like this food, I mean…" Kilik was interrupted by Leon's cry of "Fine! Fine! Chinese it is!"

The rod master turned to the rest of the group and grinned "Maybe this won't be so bad"

Sometime later, the group of 11 were lying contentedly on the floor of the apartment's living room, the furniture pushed up to the walls in an attempt to make space for the large ensemble.

"Ok, we're finished with dinner and socialising" Chris mumbled, pushing aside a pile of tin foil containers that had held the Chinese food.

Leon and Claire were fishing bits of rice off the floor and putting them into another container, and Jill was trying to find the various plates, whilst trying to block the sight of the skeleton of what had been the crispy duck from the birds in the corner.

Billy was standing over by the birds' cage, feeding them before they let them out for the night to stretch their wings.

With the food cleared up, Leon sat on the floor, cross legged.

"We need to discuss our problem with Wesker" he stated, addressing the group as one of the birds fluttered onto his shoulder "That's the reason we're all together, after all"

"Well where should we start?" Claire asked, lying on her stomach "We've heard about the mutations, so there's not much to talk about"

"There is something that Link picked up at the end of the tape. It may only be the name of the virus, but it might help."

"See if you can block out the other noises on the CD and get it clearer." Chris ordered

Leon nodded and moved to the computer at the far side of the room, slipping into the swivel chair in front of the desk, turning the computer on. After 30 seconds he typed in a password, logging into his account and opening up a piece of soft ware, putting the disc into the CD drive.

The CD played and Leon tried various methods to reduce the surrounding noise on the recording.

Chris turned back to the others.

"All we know is what this virus is doing and we have to stop it. If Wesker gets control of the people of your world, then there is no hope for any of us. When it comes down to it, our only option is to get Wesker to spread the anti-virus, and hope that it works"

"If Soul Edge is infected though and acting to spread the virus more, then I don't think that'll work….it'll just keep pumping out more of it." Siegfried commented

"Then he'd have to inject it directly to the sword and spread more into an airborne state so that it helps those that could be saved" Billy answered.

"If it that's simple then there's no problem really. Not in our world, as long as we get him to cure it"

"That's fine…..but what if the Triforce gets infected? If what Leon says is true, then that's what we should be worrying about"

"Then there will probably be no way to cure it" Sheik answered for Link who had just opened his mouth to reply.

"How's the CD coming Leon?" Jill asked, looking over at the younger man

"….got it!...I think it's only the name of the virus but it's there"

He turned the speakers up and played back the audio clip. A door banged shut and then there was a muffled scuffling of the group that had infiltrated the HCF building only yesterday, then Wesker's voice, faint but unmistakable.

"_Spread your disease, you only have to touch her…after all…you are the Anodyne" _

Link stared at the computer monitor than turned to the Hyrulians "Excuse me for this but…….." he let a long string of curse words, whilst the onlookers edged away.

Link finished and panted "Sorry"

"Uh-huh" Billy commented "Anodyne….weird name for a virus"

"Anodyne is a pain killer though….Anadin anyway. But…it means dull, boring, uninteresting….it makes no sense to call a virus that" Jill explained

"It's irony" Billy stated "More than likely…but that's not the key issue here….what he said is, not the name though"

Chris's eyebrows furrowed together "What are you getting at?"

"Listen to it again… Leon, play it back"

"_Spread your disease, you only have to touch her…after all…you are the Anodyne"_

Chris looked at Billy and spoke "You are the Anodyne…he was talking to Aaron after he had left….Aaron is the virus"

"How is that possible? He's a person" It was Claire who threw up the objection

The group looked around to each other for an answer. None came. That is until Rebecca walked in.

"Aaron is a physical manifestation of the virus and Wesker has plenty of test subjects….Not that he's used a person. He's taken the basic structure from the DNA of a person, played with it and added the virus. He's created Aaron to be exactly how he wanted him"

"How do you know this?"

"I don't for certain…. it's just a guess, but the theory works….in principal, at least"

"Ah hah. Now, second question…when did you get here?" Chris asked

"About five minutes ago... but I can be incredibly quiet and when you're distracted it's easy"

"Ok, so we know all this but, what good does it do us?" Maxi enquired

"It means that we know to be careful of Aaron when we confront him and Wesker…and the virus' name" Chris again took charge of the conversation

"I take it that the next step is to confront them then…and Hi" Maxi added, turning to look at Rebecca. Rebecca nodded back to the Japanese man.

Chris rolled his eyes and dipped his head to answer Maxi's question.

"When are you planning this for?" Sheik asked, the first thing he'd really said since arriving in this world.

"A few days time would be best" Leon commented from by the computer and swivelled in his chair to look at Chris. "We need to make a plan, find out if Wesker has moved anywhere, and get any equipment we might need. On top of that, these guys might have to be briefed more on the ways of this world"

"I doubt that" Link commented "But…we'll need to know what's going to go on while we're there…and…" he trailed off

"And?"

"Well, I don't want to put too fine a point on it but…our weapons are a bit behind yours. If we can't use them adequately when we go…then there won't be much point in us joining you and we can't learn how to use your weapons in just a few days"

"He's got a fair point…but, there, hopefully, won't be any need for fighting" Jill remarked

"You think Wesker's gonna share that point of view?" Chris asked "Anyway, we'd take you along regardless. You have every right to; you're trying to save you worlds, after all"

"Perhaps we should leave the discussions for now, and just relax. We've been over everything we need to, so we can start the planning tomorrow" Claire suggested

Agreeing, the group settled down for the evening, talking about their cultures and worlds. Link stood up and walked to the window that made up an entire wall of Leon's apartment.

Lowering his head, he offered a prayer to the goddesses….for Zelda.

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Yes, a cheesy end to a chapter (aren't they all?) but I'm proud of being a cheesy sap. You kniw what I'm gonna say know, but I'll say it anyway...REVIEW PLEASE! 


	9. Chapter 9

Sacharja - Thank you, once again for your review. Please, don't take this the wrong way, because I value your suggestions and opinions (especially since you're the only person who bothers to review anymore) but I am trying my hardest to fit all your suggestions in to make my writing better, but quite frankly, I'm having difficulty with it. As for having too many characters, I am aware of it, but I have tried to cut down. I am in the middle of writing chapter 11 at the moment so it is a bit late but I will try. No offence but sometimes your suggestions, though true, are a little bit too much for me to deal with at the moment.

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Chapter 8

The King of Hyrule stared distantly at his land that lay before him, the brilliant green of Hyrule field spread out in front if him. His thoughts, however, where definitely not focused on the countryside that he had seen so many times. Instead his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the people, the virus and most of all, his daughter.

Link had left some time ago, three hours maybe, and it was now half past three in the afternoon, in Hyrule at least. About an hour after Link had left, he had done as his son-in-law had requested, and told Zelda about the baby. To his surprise, she had merely nodded at him, and in a whispery tone, informed him that she already knew. This hadn't stopped her from being upset about it, and the young woman had broken down crying and all the King had been able to do for his daughter was to hold her and try and offer words of comfort. It had worked to some extent and he had left her to be by herself after a while, she had only come out of her room an hour later and now, she was back in their, lying on her bed, Impa by her side, sobbing for her child, wishing Link would come back to her.

The King shook his head. Link would offer prayers for her in that world, and he would be back as soon as he could, probably bearing the news that this 'Wesker' person was dead and the people could be cured along with the baby. It was wishful thinking….but it was all that was left now.

The water supply had been cut off from Zora's domain, and the Zoras themselves had been forced out of their home in the fear it had been contaminated. Now, they were living in the small pools in the Lost Woods, close to Zoras domain, the only place where the water was not infected, because it didn't come from Lake Hylia.

Not that this was the only problem, far from it. The Hylians were being forced to ration the water they had because a fresh supply wasn't coming. On top of that a heat wave was supposed to be arriving soon. It was only late April, but it had already been too hot for most of the living things in Hyrule. The farmers crops were starting to wilt already, and any produces from animals, such as milk, were spoiling quickly.

In short, the Kingdom was in a mess.

'_And people will look to me to do something about it…along with the mutations' _The King thought to himself, and sighed heavily. There wasn't anything he could to about it really, just try and advise people how to help themselves and survive through the tough times. The only other option was to import food and water from neighbouring countries, and while the King was sure that Hyrule's brother and sister countries, Calatia and Galatia would help them out, they couldn't provide enough food for the whole of Hyrule and themselves.

He had appealed to the God's, but, somehow he felt that they weren't going to do much. Hyrule would see this through, he was sure, but many would die on the journey.

Sighing again, the king looked down at the now empty ditch that had been the moat. He noted, with some amusement, that someone, probably one of the maids, had removed the fish that had been swimming in it.

He turned suddenly around to look indoors at the servant who had called him.

"What is it?" he asked, somewhat irritated and he noticed that the servant bowed lower than usual and kept his head down

"The Sages are asking that you meet them in the conference hall, sire. They say that it is urgent and they would like you to come immediately"

"Very well"

With that the King hurried away past the servant, who closed the balcony doors. He practically sprinted to the room that the meetings were held in, his long robes flapping behind him. If the Sages were urgent to see him, it probably concerned the Triforce and with the current condition of the country and its dilemma…well, it wasn't likely to be good news. He quickened his pace as the last stairwell to the main floor came into sight and continued to the room at the same pace.

After a further, anxious, five minutes of almost frantically rushing through the corridors, he came to the heavy wooden doors. This was the same room that had been used two years ago, when Ganondorf had come for 'discussions' for the last time before he launched his attack.

Taking a deep breath, the King pulled the door open and stepped into the room. He walked to his seat at the head of the dark table and sat down, looking to the faces of the Sages. His eyes stopped on Zelda and she smiled humourlessly at him, her face mirroring the same grim expression that everyone else in the room now wore.

He smiled back and then looked to the rest.

"What've you got to tell me?"

The Sages eyes flicked to the Princess, who was staring at him.

"Zelda?"

"The Triforce is infected" she stated bluntly "The Sages and I have felt a growing evil emanating from the Sacred Realm, where the Triforce of Power now rests in its own."

"What about you and Link?"

"Link…..he may be fine as long as he doesn't get infected, his Triforce piece will stay pure….for a time. But with Power already infected, as it probably has been for a few days, the virus is spreading through the bonds that the Triforce still has, and with my child infected, the Triforce of Wisdom is becoming infected through that"

"…..How is this going to affect you?"

"I may mutate….I may not, I believe that Wesker only wanted the baby infected but that is irrelevant now. The infection isn't very strong at the moment, but it is growing….in perhaps a few days, the virus will start to cause some sickness to me. In a week, it could be contagious"

"Goddesses….is there nothing to stop this?"

"Short of destroying the Triforce….no. Therefore I'm quarantining myself to save you getting infected….it may give you some more time"

She stood and walked out of the room, leaving the stunned Sages and King behind. The King rose to go after her and then turned to the Sages.

"How has this infected the Triforce?"

"The essence of the Gods left inside…bio-material. It's a part of the Goddesses, who despite being immortal, presumably have some similarities to humans" Rauru answered.

The King nodded, hurrying away to find Zelda.

It was 7 o'clock in the world of the Soul Calibur warriors and the group of warriors that saw Kilik, Maxi, Siegfried and Yunsung off that morning were still gathered in the dilapidated chapel. They had agreed to stay behind and keep an eye on Soul Edge. The majority of the group were in the chapel, settling down for the evening, eating and talking in murmuring in low voices to each other. Only one member of the group was missing, and remaining people glanced out of the shattered windows occasionally in an attempt to see where he was.

Raphael strolled leisurely through the dark woods, sighing heavily to himself, occasional specks of slowly dimming light peeking in through the canopy of the trees, bathing him with an almost holy aura as he continued to walk. He was heading back to the village, but as slowly as possible thinking of his daughter, sitting in the small cottage they lived in, completely alone. He hadn't wanted to leave her…but if he could stop her from becoming a victim again, then it wasn't in vain at least.

An increasingly bright light from his far right alerted him to the fact that he was almost out of the forest. He would have to cut through the centre of town to head to the chapel, but he was perfectly willing to take his time about it.

He meandered slowly down the hill to the flat of the village, when a boy about ten years old ran in his direction, crying. Stopping Raphael watched the boy and knelt down to talk to him when he looked over. The boy was fairly well dressed, for someone from this village, but his clothes and hair were out of order making him look like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards. The boys eyes were large, scared, wet with tears and panicked like that of a trapped wild animal.

"What's happened?" Raphael asked, using the most placating voice he could muster. Usually, he would have just forced the boy into telling him, but in his condition, upsetting the boy further wasn't going to help him find out what had happened.

The boy looked up and sniffed heavily, before choking out "They're all dead. Everyone in the village, they were killed by the monsters"

"The mutants are here?"

The boy nodded

"Where did they come from?"

"They were people from here" the boy sniffed again, his voice quiet and scared "But they turned into monsters….they're killing everyone"

Raphael nodded "Head out that way and hide in the woods, until me or one of my group comes to get you" he pointed in the direction of the woods, then ran for the village, his breath coming in pants as he neared the outer buildings.

By the time Raphael had reached the centre of town, he was barely able to breathe….and seeing the sight around him stole those few gasps away from him.

The walls of the town were covered with blood, coating the walls with a slick gloss of twisted paint. On one of the walls the blood had merely spattered against it, creating the image of a canvas, the off white stucco coloured with patches of blood, like poppies blossoming.

On the cobble stoned floor of the village centre, were the bodies of those few people that had been lucky enough to have been killed out right, that had escaped becoming on of those creatures.

Raphael stepped carefully past the fallen corpses, watching them in case on decided to come back to life. He vaguely wondered if the monsters suffered in their new forms, if they had any human consciousness left at all….then decided it didn't matter, they weren't coming back to life anyway. He snorted at a memory that came back to him, or more specifically a song that he had heard when he had been back in Hyrule, a song that Leon had played on some device.

"Bring me to Life" Raphael muttered, and chuckled darkly at the irony that the song was playing in his head now. He also remembered that Leon had looked particularly pained when playing it, saying that it reminded him of Raccoon City.

Well, this was definitely a Raccoon City like situation, from what Leon had described it was like.

A shout caught his attention suddenly and Raphael broke into a sprint for the noise, slowing only when he reached its point of origin. Standing in the middle of a circle of warriors was one of the mutants.

"Thank God that you're finally here" Ivy shrieked at him, valentine hanging down by her thigh, covered in a tar-like substance

"Why haven't you killed it yet?"

"Well it's not like we're not trying"

"So why?"

"It's too strong. Every time we get close it lashes out at us"

"Why don't some of you attack it while others distract it?"

"Why don't you distract it for us?"

Raphael sighed, and then slipped into the circle next to Seung Mina, tightening his hold on the hilt of Flambert. It was pathetic how they couldn't manage to beat…

As that thought was forming, it abruptly stopped. He realised why they couldn't beat it easily now that he saw it properly.

The creature was similar to all the others, it still had sickly green skin and those strange, spidering veins….but it was larger than the others, and the skin on what had been its face was peeled away to reveal throbbing purple muscle tissue and glistening yellow bone. A large deep yellow eye, the colour of an egg yolk, had former on its chest, practically taking up most of the space of where the pectoral muscles should have been. The pupil was centred directly over where the heart was, in the middle of the chest and as Raphael stared into the blackness of the wide, slitted vertical pupil, he realised he could see it, could see the red organ, pulsing in the back of the eye and the whole eye, the whole yellow orb, was pulsing with it. Throbbing with each drum beat of the heart, expanding every time the heart did, giving bursts of sludgy black blood to the body, pushing it through the thin pencil width veins.

The others followed his gaze, staring in fascination at the mass, the size of a bowling ball.

"I think we know where to target, don't you?" Raphael asked, to no-one in particular

The group nodded and Ivy, Talim, Xianghua and Mitsurugi stepped forward and then rushed to the sides of the creature, attacking it in an attempt to distract it.

The creature in turn screeched at its attackers, flailing its muscled arms, slamming them down in an attempt to squash its attackers that were stabbing it with their pointy metal sticks. It hit one, a female, young and limber and she let out a ear piercing screech as it hit her, a sound akin to the yelp an injured terrier would give.

"Mina, get that thing while it's distracted by Xianghua!" Mitsurugi called, looking first to the Korean, then to the Chinese girl, lying splayed out on the floor.

Mina nodded and charged forward, plunging her weapon into the pits of the bulging yellow eye twisting it as she did so, making sure the heart was destroyed.

The group backed away, as Mina pulled Scarlet Thunder out and stepped away. Mitsurugi crept over to Xianghua to make sure she was still breathing, knelt down beside her, and on confirming that she was alive, turned to watch as the creatures fell to the floor, its body thrashing as it spasmed, its arms beating the floor in a tattoo a rasping noise gurgling from the throat.

The assembly watched in shock, as, after five minutes, the creature finally stopped flailing, its body weakened and finally giving up. When they could be sure it was dead, they stepped forward, examining it.

Raphael knelt down, his eyes studying its body and as he did, his eyebrows furrowed, a frown settling onto his features.

Ivy watched closely as a frown appeared on Raphaels face. "What's wrong?"

The rest of the group turned to look at her as she called to Raphael. The Frenchman stood up and backed away from the body, but still stared down at the corpse.

"Don't you think it took a long time to die?...Especially seen as it was stabbed in the heart"

Ivy shrugged "So what?"

"It's heart was destroyed, and it survived five minutes…it bled to death"

"How?"

"I don't know, but from the amount of blood, that's the only explanation."

Mitsurugi walked up to the mutant "Excuse me for this, but I don't want it coming back"

He raised his Katana above his head, and with the whistling sound of a sword cutting air, he decapitated it.

"Is there anything else you found out while I wasn't here?" Raphael asked, tactfully ignoring the whimpers coming from Xianghua's unconscious form.

Talim answered him "Several other villages in this area have started to be attacked by hordes of monsters and we might have a lead on who is causing this"

"How did you find that out?"

"Some of the mutating villagers were gasping out one name as they were mutating"

"And that was?"

"….Aaron"

Raphael looked at her for a moment "That's it?"

"Yeah"

"That's….wonderful. We don't even know who is causing this"

Mitsurugi was the only person who replied to this "Perhaps you should go to Hyrule, and tell your friend, Link. If they're suffering the same problem, they may need to know about this and if you can get any information back to us then we'll be in a better position to defend people"

"No. I don't want to go back there"

"Why?"

"I don't want to leave Amy"

"You already have, what's one more visit to Hyrule going to do?"

"But if the seal closes…"

"Then we'll take care of her until we re-open the seal" Ivy answered "Besides….she sort of knows us and you've got no one else to trust"

"Fine. I'll leave in the morning. But first, there's a little boy up in the forest who survived the attack, and I told him to wait up there until it was safe. I'll have to go get him"

With the explanation, Raphael strode away from the group, cursing the fates for making him leave Amy behind again.

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You know the drill 


	10. Chapter 10

A.N: YAY! I had more than one review! Thanks to Shadow, Veronica and Sacharja. I hope my work is beggining to improve.

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Chapter 9

Aaron strolled casually down the corridors of the HCF office block, purposely trying to be late as he headed to Commander Wesker's office to meet with him about the virus. In all honesty since Aaron had found out what he had about the infected humans, in his opinion, Wesker had no right to talk to him about it.

'_It's me' _Aaron thought to himself, gritting his teeth against the thought _'I am the virus and the virus is me! I control it, not him, what right does he have to try and control me, and it through me?'_

None, in Aaron's opinion, but then, Aaron had conveniently forgotten that it was in fact Wesker who had created the virus, had created him. Though maybe 'forgotten' was the wrong word to use, perhaps 'overlooked' would have been better. Indeed, Aaron had taken that thought into account, but merely decided that Wesker shouldn't try to control him, shouldn't try to play God, as it were.

In the past 3 days, Aaron had accelerated in his growth, or rather his personality had developed further. Aaron of course, hadn't noticed this, but Wesker most certainly had and he wasn't happy about it. With Aaron thinking in his current mind stead, well, it was dangerous to his plans. If Aaron should choose to continue in this way…

'_Then I'll be in control' _was Aaron's firm belief and this was a very bad sign.

Wesker paced back and forth in his office, waiting for Aaron to make an appearance, and trying to prepare for it. Aaron had become stubborn, power crazed and arrogant.

'_As I used to be when I was younger, backed when I worked with William' _Wesker reflected, and in turn realised that there were only two ways that Aaron was going to start behaving again. The first was to simply wait for this stage to pass, but of course this could take time and it might not be just a stage. The second was to show Aaron just how much power Wesker himself held…this was Wesker's favoured option. Aaron hadn't seen the full extent of Wesker's power, hadn't seen much of it at all.

'_So I'm going to have to treat him to that if he starts acting up'_

It was as that thought completed itself that there was a knock at the office door, and before Wesker had time to call the offending person in, the door open and produced Aaron.

The virus's face was as blank as it had ever been, but though the expression was bland, Wesker was sure he could see a superior smirk in the creatures translucent grey eyes.

Wesker growled under his breath at Aaron's impertinence, pushing aside the urge to give a scathing remark.

"Would you at least wait for me to answer before you come sauntering in?" Wesker spat out.

Aaron didn't reply, just stood, staring at the 'commander'.

"Anyway, we have better things to do than stand around here" with that Wesker turned away, deciding to drop the subject for a minute, he'd get back at Aaron later. He walked to the back of the office to the patch where he had hidden the blood samples a few days earlier. Pulling out a knife from its sheath on his belt he ran at down a very slight almost completely invisible gap in the wall. Only he and Aaron knew where it was and could actually see it. Nothing happened for a few seconds, and then a thin metal door swung outwards to reveal a darkened passage. Re-sheathing his knife, Wesker pulled the door open further, stepping into the darkness of the passage and walking down it quickly before realizing that Aaron hadn't followed him.

Despite the darkness that was currently engulfing him and the dark shades that perpetually covered his eyes, Wesker could quite clearly see Aaron's features, set in a smirk reminiscent of his own. Growling, the blonde BOW turned back before getting close enough to his creation to grab him by the throat. With his gloved hand wrapped firmly around Aaron's neck, he slammed him against the wall, holding him there, pinned a couple of inches from the ground. Aaron kicked out at his creator, but the man didn't even flinch when one of the blows connected with his abdomen. Wesker moved his head forward, when the tiny amount of pain he'd felt subsided, so that his face was adjacent with Aaron's. He could have only been an inch away, and Aaron, despite his swelled ego, couldn't help but feel at least a small bit of fear when he felt the power that seemed to surround Wesker in some kind of aura. Wesker, though he couldn't see Aaron's face, knew that he was scared, when the pulse in his neck that was directly under his thumb speeded up slightly.

Wesker moved his mouth next to Aaron's ear, and whispered into it harshly

"Stop fucking around, Aaron. This is serious, stop procrastinating and follow me…and make sure that door is sealed shut."

Wesker pulled his grip away and Aaron slumped down slightly, glaring at the older man before moving to seal the door shut. Wesker watched him carefully as he started to move again, shooting a lethal glare at Aaron before picking up his pace, moving down the now totally pitch-black corridor. The darkness of the corridor and their narrow winding pathways didn't bother Wesker, and he could see well enough in the dark to not have to turn any lights on, though it did mean he was slightly more at risk of being attacked by Aaron., but Wesker didn't think he'd attack….not just yet.

'_He is still a little subservient when threatened which gives me a slight bit more time to get everything sorted out'_

This was only going to last for a little while longer though and Aaron's 'new' power over the creatures had boosted his ego further.

Wesker shifted his shoulders slightly before squaring them again to give off that look of power that so many people were scared of. He settled back into the almost tense silence comfortably. Wesker was perfectly happy for there to be no conversation, partly as it always ended in an argument but mainly because Aaron was notoriously dull when it came to conversations. This was due to the fact that he only really knew one thing he could talk about, and that was the virus. While it was Wesker's fault that he hadn't introduced anything else into the creature's life, he had no desire to rectify the situation; Aaron wasn't created for companionship of any sort. Besides all that, Wesker wasn't all that social anyway, preferring to be left alone to plot on scheme. He had even been like this when he was a child, quite contented to sit inside without the companionship of other kids his age, happy enough to be entertained by his imagination or study, despite his mothers constant pressuring to get some friends. In fact Wesker, having followed this train of thought whilst walking down the corridors, realised that the only person who he had ever really had as a friend, someone he genuinely had liked talking to was William Birkin and he…well, he was dead.

Wesker drew his thoughts away from that path, knowing that it wasn't good for him, and noticed that he was approaching the door to the room he wanted. He slowed his pace and glanced behind him to see if anything passed across the face of the creature behind him.

The room ahead had been Wesker's lab some weeks ago, and it was the room that Aaron had been created in. It was bare now though, Wesker had cleared it out just after Aaron woke up and was human enough in the way he acted to be able to be somewhere else, usually Wesker's office. Wesker reached the door and slipped out a card from his pocket, running it through a reader next to the door. The beep that followed, admitting Wesker's access seemed overly loud in the death like silence that lingered in the corridors like a bad smell.

Pushing the door open and stepping inside, Wesker reached to his right and flipped the light switch upwards to turn the lights on. Instantly he was hit by the bright fluorescent lights that had been present in the lab he used to work in…that were present in the buildings that, by now, almost completely governed his life.

Wesker turned to face Aaron, sinking back into a chair by the opposite wall as he did so. When he was comfortable he folded his hands in his lap and looked expectantly at Aaron.

"What have you got to tell me?"

Aaron shrugged non-chalantly "Situations are getting worse for the worlds, Hyrule is under siege from the mutants and is running out of water since they have shut off their supply from the lake. A heat wave is approaching them and their relic, the Triforce, is infected and is distributing the virus, much like the world in test world one is."

"Good…other world?"

"Rapid spreading of the virus and more attacks, the mutations are becoming stronger too"

"As is to be expected" Wesker commented "Anything new?"

"They're under my control"

"The mutants?...I've known that they would be eventually from the moment you woke up" Wesker stated simply "Anything new?" stressing 'new' Aaron noticed

Aaron snorted "If you're so omniscient, like you pretend to be, then you would know"

"I don't pretend to be omniscient, Aaron, nor do I pretend to be omnipresent….however, I am closer to being omnipotent than I was when I was human…even if I'm not there yet"

Aaron's eyebrows furrowed at the comment "You're not human?"

"Oh come now" the blonde pulled off the shades, keeping his eyes closed "how many humans have you seen with eyes like this?" Wesker raised his head, opening his eyes slowly, reminding Aaron of the red-tinged yellow gaze that he'd seen on the first day of his life.

"Now, I have things to do if you've got nothing else to tell me" Wesker stood up, slipping the shades back on.

When Aaron started to follow him out of the room, Wesker walked quickly over to the door, too fast for his subordinate to keep up. Flicking the lights off and slamming the door closed behind him, Wesker walked over to a small panel by the side of the door, and disabled Aaron's control of the lights inside.

The door had locked automatically, leaving Aaron trapped in the concrete cell like room. He smirked to himself and depressed a button on the panel that controlled the talk system.

"I'll leave you in there to think about your attitude problem…and don't attempt to get out, that room is sealed save for this door" he kicked the door, emphasising his point "See you later"

He walked away from the room, hearing Aaron pounding on the thick metal of the door, and smiled. The smile broke into a broad grin upon hearing Aaron's profane comments directed at him, the desperation as he pounded on the door again.

And Wesker walked away, grinning at his own cruelty….let Aaron simmer for a while…

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Once again please keep reviewing. Updates may be a little erratic for the next few weeks, due to the fact that I'm back in school 


	11. Chapter 11

A.N: Ok, the usual, thank you for your reviews (Especially the one from Sacharja, prasising Chapter 9) I hope you keep it up...now, on with the story!

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Chapter 10

Rebecca knocked on the door to Leon and Claire's apartment before grasping the door knob and turning it, pushing the door open. She stepped into the warmth of the apartment, her head down as she hung up her coat and pulled her shoes off and then moving into the living room.

She sniffed quietly as she closed the door, and then looked at the assembled group noting that everyone was there, including Barry.

"Hey," she greeted, a little miserably

Leon looked up from the circle on the floor that the group were sitting in "Alright Becca?..." he asked then trailed off, seeing the look on her face "apparently not" he muttered

The rest of the group had looked up when Leon had greeted Rebecca, and each one of them noticed the distressed look on her face, it wasn't hard to though.

"What happened, Becks?" Chris asked

"Carlos" she sniffled out "he had a bad turn, is all. They said he'll be OK, but…." Her voice was so quiet that the group barely heard her. Billy, who was sitting on the sofa, chewed at his lip, torn between comforting his once almost-lover and merely ignoring her because of her distress over Carlos. Then again, he couldn't exactly blame her for being upset by her fiancé's condition.

"Hey, he'll be alright Becca" Barry soothed, or tried to "Carlos is a tough guy, he'll pull through"

She nodded and sniffled again moving over to the group, glancing around the concerned faces of her friends and the newcomers and the group watched her, surprise etching itself onto the faces of her friends when she sat down next to Billy and curled up against him, sniffling quietly.

Billy sat stiffly on the sofa, Rebecca's head pressed to his chest, and he glanced around uneasily. To say he was surprised by the girl's actions towards him now, especially considering her treatment of him a few days ago, was an understatement.

He eventually moved to put his arms around her, gingerly, in an attempt to comfort her, half expecting for her to slap him or move away. She did neither, instead she moved closer to him, mumbling something into his chest about being sorry.

Chris cleared his throat "Well, so we know that we're going to have to be a lot more careful this time around, especially since Aaron knows who we are now, although hopefully Wesker will want to torture us himself, meaning that Aaron won't intercept us if we're found."

"I think it would probably be best if we weren't found or intercepted" Maxi commented, and in return Chris merely gave him a look that said 'Well, duh'.

"So, as to the point that Link brought up a few days ago," Leon started "That the weapons they use are behind, perhaps it would be best if we go in two or three groups, since there are 12 of us, it's too many to go in at once"

"Three groups would be better, at least if there's a problem, the middle group can pass on a message quicker, and we're less likely to be noticed if we're in smaller groups," Suggested Jill

Chris nodded "Alright. Three groups of four….If we sort that out now, we can decide what order we go in"

The others nodded in agreement "K. The team leaders will be Me, Jill and Billy. If any of you have preferences as to who you want to be with, I advise you to say now"

No one responded, but merely looked to each other.

"Are we choosing our own teams or what?" Billy asked, Rebecca still pressed to his side

Chris looked to him "Yeah, if you want. Claire, you're coming with me, and no arguments"

Claire stuck her tongue out at her brother, but moved to sit by him "you do know that one group isn't going to have a second person from this world?"

Chris shrugged "Shouldn't be a problem, that group should probably go second though. Ok, I want Yunsung and Sheik to come with me. Jill, your team?"

"uhh…Billy you choose first"

Billy rolled his eyes "Good leader you are. I'll have Maxi, Kilik and Liam"

Jill nodded "Ok guys, Link, Leon and Siegfried, you're with me…." She suddenly smiled broadly

"What're you grinning at?" Barry raised an eyebrow at the woman

"I get all the gorgeous blonde guys in my team"

There was a universal sigh at Jill's shallow comment, and she gradually turned a bright shade of crimson in self consciousness.

"How do we decide which group goes first?" Link asked

"Ah, flip a coin" Billy commented, earning himself a glare from Chris "oooh, sorry Commander Redfield, Sir"

Chris turned his attention away "My group will go firs, followed by Billy's and then Jill's will take up the rear."

"So how do we get in?" Kilik asked

"Let's run over the plan overall" Chris started "The HCF compound, which includes the office block as well as the more legitimate labs, is about 30 miles out from Washington, in the middle of nowhere, so we'll drive out there"

Leon started to talk them through the next stage "The compound is in the middle of scrubland, so we'll get out about three quarters of a mile from the compound and walk the rest of the way there, circling round to the back, which is where the offices are. Up until this point we'll still be in one group and seen as they don't really guard the back of the compound we shouldn't be caught. Once at this point we'll split up into our groups"

Leon pointed to a map, detailing the layout of the compound and the surrounding area. He had marked out the key points on it, and was currently pointing to a large black spot next to a line which, everyone assumed, was the fence around the compound.

Chris took up the lead again "Once we're in our groups, my group will go in. The fence is about 2.5 metres high, and is lined with barbed wire at the top, which I'll cut when I go up, which'll be first by the way. Once we're over the fence, there's an open space of about 5 metres which we'll have to make a dash across. Hopefully though, shadows will cover most of the ground so we'll be hidden by them. Once we hit the wall of the building, that was literally hit by Carlos the other day because he ran into it, we climb through the window, which should still be broken, that's nearest to Wesker's office. Once we're in Billy and his team will follow and once they're in Jill's team follows. There will be a gap of a few minutes between the entry of each group, hopefully, but the group leaders know where to go, so follow them and you should find your way to the office easily."

The group nodded in understanding of the plan. "I can't believe that it'll turn out that simple though" Billy commented, "You know, if we make it more complicated, it'll probably work"

"Billy, have you never heard of KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid" Jill shook her head as she said it

"Well, yeah. But I've always wanted to do a mission impossible kind of thing. Personally, I would love to get those sink plunger things and walk along the ceiling with them but…." He trailed off, shrugging

Chris rolled his eyes "Ok, ignoring Billy's frankly idiotic comments, are there any questions? And I will not dignify any question that involves sink plungers, with an answer"

The group chuckled at the comment, and Yunsung raised his head

"So, what are we going to do once we're in?"

"We're going to get into Wesker's office, the idea is that we catch him by surprise, and his friend Aaron too. We hold them there, find out what we need to know, get an anti-virus, and get him to administer it if need be…and then…." Chris trailed off

"And then?" Liam raised an eyebrow

"We make sure that Wesker can't do anything like this again" he finished

"You mean we kill him" Siegfried stated

Chris shifted his eyes slightly and nodded. Although he hated Wesker for everything he had done, he still wasn't sure how he was going to feel about killing the man. He knew it was necessary, but no matter how much Chris told himself that, no matter how much suffering Wesker had caused both to Chris himself and countless others, deep down he knew that he wished that there was another way, that he could punish Wesker without turning himself into a murderer. Even if it was to avenge the dead, it was still murder.

"It's for the best," Chris finally answered "At least he can't hurt people anymore if he's dead. Besides, he murdered most of my….our comrades" he glanced to Barry, Jill and then Rebecca, the only survivors of the mansion incident. Brad hadn't been killed then, but he had been murdered eventually, even if it wasn't directly because of the former Captain.

"Death is what he deserves"

"How do you feel about killing a man, Chris?" Link asked, wondering just how much Chris hated Wesker.

"Wesker isn't human," he shrugged "So it doesn't matter, it's the same as putting down a dog that's bitten a person."

"But he is still a person. He has a personality, a soul, it would seem. Have you ever killed a man before?"

"No," Chris answered, his mood beginning to darken at Link's interrogation.

Link noticed the change in Chris's mood immediately, his body had tensed, his voice had changed to a lower level, starting to become tinged with anger and his eyes had darkened considerably.

"Forgive me for asking," Link continued, dipping his head in a subservient manner, trying to show the other man through body language that he didn't mean to anger him "I'm just wondering if you could kill him without being guilty over it"

"Would you judge me, think me a bad person if I could?"

"Yes. But I also think that you probably would have some regrets over it"

"You're saying that I'm weak" Chris's voice had lowered further; irritated that he was being called weak by a person he was trying to help.

"No. I've killed a person, I've killed Ganon, and even now I wish that there could have been another way, that I didn't have to kill him and banish him to an afterlife trapped in a void that he can't escape. I feel guilty over taking another's life….despite what he did. I would be comforted to know that you would feel some regret, even if it faded eventually. If you don't feel sort of remorse for it, then perhaps you're as bad as the person you set out to kill." Link's voice was subdued as he finished his little speech, and he remembered how he felt when he had seen Ganondorf die. He had been almost happy, filled with a sense of deep satisfaction, and to his horror, he had realised that it wasn't because Hyrule and the people were safe; it was because he had killed Ganondorf. At that point he had been filled with such a disgust and terror directed at himself, that some of the tears that he had cried as he sobbed over Zelda's unconscious form, we're from self-loathing, and the belief that he had enjoyed the murder, that he had been consumed by bloodlust. After a while of reminiscing over it, he had realised that it didn't matter anymore, as long as he regretted the fact of what he had done (which he did), and as long as he didn't let that feeling over come him again.

The assembly sat in a sort of stunned silence over Link's speech, and were now staring at him. The young blonde had been sitting completely still for a full minute now, just staring absently at the carpet in front of his feet, and they were starting to get the feeling he had gone into some sort of trance. They had also half expected Chris to try and beat the hell out of him, but it seemed even Chris was stunned over Link's words, for the man's eyebrows looked like if they went any higher they would disappear into his hairline.

Chris was in fact mulling over Link's words, not realising that he still looked totally surprised. The surprise had passed, but he was so lost in thought, that he was completely unaware of the world around him, which Chris himself would later admit was rare for him, because he usually acted on emotion and instinct, barely thinking about what people had said at all. However, the words and slight emotions that had come from Link's voice had struck a chord with him.

When Chris first met Link, just over two years ago, he had thought that he was just a rather quiet teenager, that like most, he didn't really think things over much, just did them and didn't care, even if he did show a little more consideration for others than most adolescents did.

Now though, he realised that Link was far more compassionate than anyone else he'd ever known, of any age. He was fairly quiet, shy and typically quite self conscious. Though he did seem to act on emotion more than anything else, because he was very emotional, he also gave consideration to all situations. He seemed to have more wisdom and maturity than most adults had, despite the fact he was only 19.

Chris shook his head, snapping himself out of his reverie and the motion attracted the attention of everyone else, including Link.

"You're right, and I suppose I agree with you. I've fuelled myself with hatred of Wesker through thoughts of the death of my comrades and friends, but I think that perhaps I do wish there was another way. He doesn't deserve forgiveness though, and there isn't any punishment that will get him to repent what he's done. So the only thing that we can do is to kill him, and he can only blame himself from bringing that upon himself"

Link didn't say anything, just inclined his head towards the brunette slightly, to show that he understood.

Maxi cleared his throat "What if Wesker's not in his office?"

"He will be, trust me, we know what he's like, he'll be there" Chris answered

"When are we doing this?" Sheik asked, from where he was sitting behind Link, and it was the first real thing he'd said since yesterday.

"Late tonight. We'll leave at ten o'clock so that we've got time to prepare ourselves before we go. It'll take us about 40 minutes to get there anyway. Wesker usually stays till twelve, getting his plans sorted out for the next day. Besides he's got work to catch up on."

"That's unlike the Captain" Barry muttered, a sarcastic and almost disgusted tone entering his voice as he said 'captain'.

"Yeah, we know, but Aaron's been giving him some problems I think" Chris grinned up at Barry

"What time is it anyway?" Claire looked to Leon

Leon in turn looked at his watch. "Oh, shit! It's six! I need to go and get Sora from her friend's place" he scrambled to his feet, grabbing his keys from the coffee table. "I'll see you later!" he called before disappearing out of the apartment door.

The group chuckled at Leon's behaviour whilst Claire rolled her eyes and got up from the floor and turned to her brother "Do we have to go in dark clothing again?"

He nodded "Yup"

"Fine, I better go and see if I've got anything and I'll have to sort out Leon's stuff as well. I'm taking a shower first though, so Chris you need to find something to do" she walked off to her and Leon's bedroom, closing the door. A few minutes later the remaining 12 people heard the sound of running water start up.

Chris got up and stretched "Alright, my stuff's sorted, apart from the guns, but I'll sort that later. So I've got about an hour or two to kill first….Billy, what're you doing?"

"Uh," Billy looked down at Rebecca "Well, I have to go and get my stuff found and sorted soooo…I better go and do that"

Rebecca removed her arms from around Billy. "I'm gonna go home, I'm not feeling well, so I'll see you later"

"I'll come with you, if you like" Barry offered. She smiled at him and nodded walking with him out of the apartment.

Billy stood up, rubbing his face and yawned. "I'll go and get my stuff sorted, so I'll be back here at about seven" he picked up his car keys, "See ya… If I see you earlier then I'll just come and irritate you though" he grinned and walked out, leaving Jill, Chris, Link, Liam, Sheik, Maxi, Yunsung, Kilik and Siegfried in the living room.

"So what're we supposed to do?" Maxi asked, turning to Liam.

"Don't ask me! I'm as familiar with this world as you are"

"If you want," Chris started "We can go down to this little deserted place I know, and you can show us your skills…besides, me and Jill don't even know exactly what weapons you'll be using, though I assume most of you use swords"

Link nodded "Sure, I'm up for that. I'd like to get some fresh air and do some training so…."

"Fair enough, but we need to get our weapons from that cupboard" Yunsung pointed out "And we haven't got the key"

"You mean this one?" Jill held up a small silver key. The weapons had been locked away in case Sora found them and hurt herself.

Yunsung tilted his head slightly and nodded at her, wondering how she knew where the key was.

"Just hide your weapons, wrap them up in a cloth or something so people don't get suspicious if we encounter any." Chris advised

Jill walked over to the cupboard, pulling the door open, handing the weapons out to the group while they stood next to the door. Each one had already been wrapped in a cloth, except for Maxi's and Kilik's and Jill sniggered slightly upon seeing them, wondering how the weapons could cause real harm. When it came to the last weapon, Siegfried's, she instantly stopped laughing, awestruck by the size of the weapon. She walked out of the cupboard.

"There is no way in hell that I'm even attempting to pick that up" she stated, watching the warriors unwrapping weapons and swapping them until they had their correct weapon.

Siegfried, instantly knowing she was referring to his, walked into the cupboard, rolling his eyes and hefting the sword easily over his shoulder.

"Wow," was Chris's only comment upon seeing the cloth covered lump.

"Yeah, you just wait till you see them all uncovered and unsheathed" Maxi commented, grumbling slightly as he flung the nunchaku round his neck, not even bothering to try and hide it.

Chris raised an eyebrow "You fight with a nunchaku? How do you kill things with two sticks?"

"Usually shatter bones and try to cave the skull in. Besides, most people are usually stunned by the pain it causes, leaving them vulnerable to attack."

"Right…that's not going to work if we get attacked by Hunters"

Maxi shrugged "So I'll hide behind you guys….can we go?"

Jill nodded walking to the door, grabbing her holster and gun, strapping them on then covering them with a light jacket, and Chris followed suit.

The group filed out, waiting in the hallway as Jill closed the door behind them. She turned to the men, Chris standing by her side "C'mon"

Walking down the hallways and out onto the street, they tried to conceal the cloth covered weapons a little better as they walked quickly, almost trotting to keep up with Chris's brisk pace. He was eager to get to the place in mind before any suspicion was aroused.

Ten minutes later Chris slowed and stopped, gesturing to the enclosed area. It was what looked like a small basket ball court, about half the size of a usual one, and windowless buildings surrounded it on all sides, save for a small gap that was the alleyway that they had come through.

"Why do you know this place?" Jill asked, turning to Chris

"I use it to do training sometimes or if I just want to be alone…I know it's not exactly picturesque but…" he shrugged.

Jill turned to the group "Alright then boys, show us what you've got"

* * *

Yeah, bad ending, I know. Hope you review, and thank you in advance!


	12. Chapter 12

A.N: Same as usual. Thank you for reviews, keep it up please and thank you to shadow and sacharja for their reviews.

* * *

Chapter 11

It was ten o'clock. In Leon's apartment in Washington DC, the assembled group of warriors was about to move out. Claire was checking that Sora was sleeping soundly, and to her great relief, she was. Chris was talking quietly to Barry and Rebecca and Leon was double checking all his weapons. Billy was standing near the door, his hand on the knob, his face already settling into a looking of concentration. As for the rest of the group, they were all standing quietly next to Billy, doing the same thing as Leon, checking over weapons for the most part.

Claire walked out of her daughters bedroom, dressed in normal clothing at the moment, as was everyone else.

Chris looked up at the sound of the door closing "Are we all ready?" he asked, his voice low. Everyone nodded and he turned to Billy "Let's go"

Billy pulled the door open and stepped outside walking down the corridor and glancing back to the others who were following him slowly, talking quietly amongst themselves, both trying to relieve their tension and appear to be casual, as though they were all friends going out for a meal, instead if setting out to kill a potential lethal man and save the world, in case anyone passed by. Not that anyone would really know what a person who was setting out to save the world would typically look like, not really anyway, but, if something went wrong, it didn't help if they were seen walking out of the apartment of a government agent, stone faced and looking like they were going to murder the first thing they came across (which, hopefully would be Wesker anyway). Hence this was the reason that they were dressed in normal clothing, and they had handed most of the weapons to a couple of members, so it merely looked as if it were they were taking something for a night out, perhaps going to camp somewhere, from all the cloth wrapped bundles.

Billy slowed his pace, falling back into the main body of people so he didn't look suspicious, and he smiled at something Chris was saying to Jill.

The walk to the cars, three in all, Chris's, Jill's and Billy's (they had decided not to bother with Leon's, because it was silver and would catch the light too easily if someone was out searching) was uneventful. One person passed by and raised an eyebrow slightly, but paid them no heed generally. It was when they get to the cars, piled the weapons in the boot, got in and were heading out of the city, that the tension really began to set in. In about just over half an hour, they may have just saved their worlds, killed Wesker and be returning to a hopeful peaceful life, for the most part.

Billy drove quietly, keeping his eyes on the road save for when he momentarily leaned over to put a CD on too try and soothe his nerves slightly, although the music wasn't really that soothing when it was a Green Day album.

Leon, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, glanced at Billy, wondering whether he was just tense over the mission, or if it was Rebecca that he was thinking about.

"Billy?" he asked quietly

"Hmmm?" Billy mused

"I hate to interrupt your thoughts, but we've been driving for half an hour now and you haven't said a word"

"Just thinking about the mission"

"Uh-huh…well, we're going to be there in ten minutes, or so…how you doing back there guys?" Leon asked turning around to look at the three men in the back of the car.

"Oh, just peachy" Link commented sarcastically, sandwiched between Siegfried and Maxi

"I think I'm gonna be sick" Maxi complained

"You dare and I'll use your hair to wipe it off my car" Billy growled, momentarily glancing back to glare at Billy, before turning off the main road, following the other two cars.

"Gee, thanks" the pirate muttered, turning to look out of the window "Your music isn't helping either"

"It's either this or Evanescence…which isn't exactly cheerful"

"Neither is Green Day" Leon commented "Although I suppose that even Boulevard of Broken Dreams or The Death of Saint Jimmy is more cheerful than any of theirs"

"Oh yeah, how do you get worse than something with the word 'Death' into the title" Siegfried questioned, raising an eyebrow at the thought that there was something more morbid than a song with death in the title

"Well…try Tourniquet…the last words of the song are 'Christ, Tourniquet, My Suicide' and the first few lines are 'I tried to kill my pain, but only would mourn, I like dying and I'm pouring crimson regret and betrayal"

"Point taken"

"Leon, change the CD to track 3" Billy requested

"Which is?"

"Holiday"

"You're not gonna start singing are you?"

"Shut up!"

Leon grinned and poked at the buttons of the CD player, trying to find the right track, not noticing that they were now only five minutes from stopping. As the track came on they pulled onto a small dirt track, leading up onto a barren plain. They made their way across the plain, then pulled to the right, slowing to a stop under the trees.

Out of the corner of his eye, Leon saw Chris get out and wander over to them. He knocked on the window of the car and Leon opened it.

"Turn your music off. As much as I like this song, and as quiet as you've got it, now is not the time and I don't want to attract any attention"

"From what?" Maxi asked, shoving the door open "Rabbits, birds…we're in the middle of a field"

Chris turned and shot a dark glare at the black haired man who was now stretching.

"Nevertheless, I want you to turn it off and get ready. Jill and Claire have already gone behind the trees, so you'll have to get changed in the car or something." Chris walked away, back to his own dark blue car that was all but invisible in the shadows under the trees.

Leon slid out, Billy following suit, and turning the music off, of course.

"What's this about getting changed?" Link asked, desperately trying to get the stiffness out of his leg before they had to start walking.

"We're just changing into black clothing so that we're less likely to be noticed when we're in the shadows, moving towards the compound." Leon answered, grabbing a bag out of the boot of the car and unzipping, revealing all his equipment and clothing.

He started to pull off his boots and pants, leaning against the side of the car as he did so. He stopped suddenly when he heard giggling behind him, turning to see Jill standing behind him, staring at his backside.

"Oh, grow up" Billy scolded, looking over from the other side of the car where he was getting changed "You women are supposed to be more mature than men"

"Oh what's the point in being grown up and mature if you can't be childish sometimes?" she asked, pouting as she walked back over to her own car.

Leon growled, pulling on the black pants as quickly as he could, partly because of the cold and partly because Jill was throwing him exaggerated sultry gazes.

Maxi sniggered slightly at Jill's behaviour and pushed himself away from the car, moving to stand by Leon's side as he pulled his shirt off to block Jill's view.

"Oh, thanks" she complained, grabbing her equipment out of the bag at her feet. She slipped on a shoulder holster, so that it was situated for right hand draw, and then checked over her gun, which was her old STARS Berretta. She was so comfortable with the old standard issue that she didn't feel the need to get a new one. Besides, the between the entire group that had firearms, they probably had enough fire power to take out half of the residents of Raccoon city, had it still existed. Though she had to admit this was mainly thanks to the men.

Aside from her handgun, Jill only had a small combat knife and a lock pick and of course, ammo for the gun, stashed in various pockets around her body.

As far as she knew, Claire had the same, minus the lock pick. Leon was currently strapping on his Desert Eagle Magnum, and a Beretta under either armpit and was strapping another gun onto his thigh, though she didn't know what it was. He also had his standard combat knife as all of them did, in the sheath on his belt, and she had the feeling he had another one hidden in his boot.

Ever since that knife fight with Jack Krauser, that he had told them about, he had had knew found respect for his combat knives and even more now that he had seen the warriors from the past with those kind of weapons.

Billy had two handguns, and was pulling a shotgun onto his back. And finally there was Chris. And Jill didn't even want to think about the fire power he was packing, though she had a slight idea. She knew that, like Leon, he had two combat knives, a standard Beretta, a Browning and a Magnum, with enough ammo to do a bank raid. She was surprised that he hadn't brought a bloody twelve-bore or a grenade launcher to blast Wesker's head off with….though she was pretty certain that he probably had a couple of grenades in his tactical vest. He had his lighter with him, and a spray can in his belt, that she was assuming was a first aid spray, but with Chris it could have easily have been a can of deodorant to act as a substitute flamethrower when combined with the lighter.

Claire was standing off by herself by the trees, checking over her equipment and she glanced at Jill, seeing her look over everyone's weapons. Claire walked over to the other woman slowly, and leaned back against the car.

"Think Chris has got enough weapons?" she asked humourlessly, noting the amount of metal on his body. Jill just snorted in response, knowing that it was a rhetorical question.

"So…what about the guys from Hyrule and stuff…have you seen their weapons?" Claire asked, watching Link handing bundles to Liam and Yunsung, before taking out his own and beginning to unwrap it.

"Yeah, I have" Jill answered "And I've gotta admit that though it seems silly for them to be using swords and stuff…when you see their skill with them, it's really cool and amazing. Siegfried's weapon especially, considering the size of it"

"Yeah, I know…I can't believe he can even pick the damn thing up…he's stronger than he looks"

Claire looked over at Link again who was walking in the direction of her and Jill.

"Hey, Link!" she called, and the blonde looked up from the bundle of cloth "Can I see your sword?" she asked, gesturing to the lump in his hand.

He nodded slowly and walked over to her, unwrapping the cloth as he did so.

"So what do you think of this world?" She questioned as Link leaned back against the car and pulled the final bit of wrapping off the sword. He shrugged "It's OK, I guess, though I haven't had much time to see it. Though, and no offence by this, I can see that when Leon comes to Hyrule, why he appreciates the nature"

She smiled at him "That's why I like coming to places like this. Even though it's bare, it's still more beautiful than the cities because it's natural"

He grinned back at her, and grabbed the hilt of the Master sword, his right hand on the scabbard, and slowly drew it out of the protective sheath.

Claire felt her eyebrows rise as he slid the sword out, because the sparse moonlight that was casting such faint light on the land, had caught the edge of the sword, and was highlighting the razor edge. Whilst the edge of the sword at the moment was completely silvery, the rest of the blade that had only just caught the light had a blue tint in the silver ness and she realised, somewhat sappily she thought, that it perfectly matched the colour of her husband's eyes. Silver-grey with the barest hint of blue, but enough so that it was a mixture of subtle colours, as opposed to a completely dominant one, like it was with hers.

Link smiled at Claire's reaction and slid the sword back into it's scabbard, before flinging the leather straps that were wrapped around the scabbard, over his shoulder and around his waist. Grabbing the straps, he pulled them taught before buckling the baldric up so that the scabbard rested comfortably against his back. Reaching down Link picked up his shield and slid the rungs that surrounded his arms when in use, over the scabbard to hold it in place.

"Alright guys," Chris called from somewhere around the back of Billy's car "We should get a move on and start heading for the compound, it's already ten past"

The group came together and converged at the back of Chris's jeep.

"Right, if everyone's got their weapons secured, let's go. Stick together and follow the person in front of you, if I give any orders, follow them and let's try to keep quiet. Billy, take up the rear so no-one gets left behind"

Billy rolled his eyes but nodded as the mass thinned out into pairs, Chris in the front, as they started to move across the open plain. For the most part, the group walked in silence, occasionally coughing or making a comment or observation.

Sheik walked near the back of the group, as silent as ever, uncomfortable with both the situation and company. He also didn't care for the setting that they were walking in. The plain was open, completely, with no trees surrounding it, just an expanse of flat land, with maybe a tree here or there. There was no cover, and it unnerved him of how easily they could be spotted, the group could see for miles, but that also meant that they could be seen for miles. There was very little vegetation around them too, just some sparse, wispy grass that looked so dry and brittle that it would snap and shatter when they brushed against it. The whole area reminded Sheik of the haunted wasteland by the Gerudo Valley. Even the chill in the air and the stillness seemed reminiscent of it. Although, it was very rarely still in the wasteland because of the sandstorms, but…that was in the day. For some reason they seemed to die down at night, as if to spook anyone who walked there, which wasn't all that hard to achieve given the rumours that circulated Hyrule about that place.

He shook off the urge to shudder at the thought of all those lost souls, mainly Gerudos, that drifted over that bare wilderness. As a Sheikah, he shouldn't be as sensitive to those thoughts as he actually was. After all, his mother, Impa, was the sage of Shadow and communicated on a regular basis with the spirits, and he was often asked to join her, which he did without complaint. But…that was in the safety of a familiar place, and he knew his mother to be strong enough to hold back the evilest of spirits, now that she had found her power.

With his mind so deep in his thoughts, and his guard unusually lowered, despite the surroundings, it was for this reason that he really didn't notice that the group had stopped walking and consequently, bumped into the back of Siegfried, starting as he did so.

Siegfried turned and glared at him "Watch it" he hissed

"What have we stopped for?" Sheik asked

"We've been walking for half an hour, look," Billy pointed to an obscure shape in the distance, just on the horizon. "That's the compound we've…" he stopped suddenly when he heard his name being called. Shrugging at the two blondes, he trotted forward, to find out who had called his name and why.

Sheik could only just make out the sound of whispering voices for a moment and then Billy stalked back over, looking directly at Sheik.

"Go to the front. Chris wants you and Jill to go ahead of everyone else and check out of there are any guards…go on" he urged, gently grabbing Sheik by the arm and nudging him in the right direction. Sheik rolled his eyes, but slinked to the front, where Jill was waiting by Chris's side.

She looked him over, noticing that he was a little less calm than usual, but still inherently calm nevertheless.

"All you have to do is go over and see if there are any guards around. If not, Jill will give us the signal to wait until it's clear.

Jill looked to Sheik and nodded, checked her guns were in place, and moved off slowly towards the compound. She kept half crouched to the ground as she went, fearful of her movements being spotted. She wasn't worried about Sheik. Glancing behind herself at him, she could see that he was better at this then she was. He moved with the fluidity of water, his form crouched, but somehow, not lurching. She also realised that, while she herself was so stealthy because she was a woman, he was better than her because he was smaller. He was probably only the same height as her five foot, six inches, but he was slimmer, more streamlined, and he moved like a cat, with boneless, sinuous movements.

She motioned at him to go in front of her, and he did, moving quickly, ducking into any shadow available, red eyes searching for the slightest flicker of movement. He moved so quickly that, within about three minutes, he had reached the overbearing shadow cast by the office block that they were heading for, and he disappeared into it completely, his dark blue clothing seeming to deepen in it's colour to black.

She slipped in behind him and could just make out where he was from the slight sliver of moonlight that was reflecting off his hair. She sidled up to him, and noticed that the shadows seemed to be darker where he had chosen to stand, than anywhere else.

"Do you see any guards?" she whispered, and he shook his head in response

"I'll check though, give me a second."

He turned so that he was facing the fence they were pressed against, and he crawled up it, like a spider. Once at the top, he glanced around, eager to not linger there to long, so he dropped down, slid behind a stack of crates next to the building.

She watched, wondering what he was doing, and saw a slight flash behind the crates, a slight cracking sound, like a nut hitting the floor and then...he was gone.

Jill glanced around frantically, wondering where he had gone and Sheik couldn't help but be slightly amused by the fact that people reacted like that, even Link.

As for his current position, he was on the slightly slanted roof of the office block, pressed flat against it. He hissed slightly, letting air slip between his teeth, and was glad to see that she had heard, and had her head cocked towards the noise.

"Call the others, it's clear" he called, as quietly as possible.

She nodded and turned her back to him, rummaging slightly for something. A lighter, he noticed, probably Chris's. She opened the flip lid and flicked the flame on, holding it for about ten seconds before letting the flame go and snapping the lid shut.

From his perch, Sheik saw the group begin to move off, in small groups of three or four, scurrying to the shadows, with an interval of about a minute between each group.

In five minutes the group was all assembled by the wire fence.

"Alright," Chris started "Split into our teams"

There was a slight scuffling sound as they made themselves into their units, and Sheik nervously glanced to where he could see the guards by the front gate. They seemed not to have noticed anything, more interested in grabbing their cups of coffee of a guard who had just arrived, or lighting their cigarettes by the lighter that had been presented in the centre of the circle of five guards.

"Right, team one advance" Chris commanded…then stopped "Where the hell's Sheik?"

Deciding to have a little fun, even if it was advised against, Sheik dropped soundlessly from his perch and crept up behind Chris, tapping him on the shoulder.

The STARS marksman did a full 360º turn, bringing out a gun in the process, and aiming it straight at Sheik's forehead.

Chris stared at the Sheikah for a moment, before glaring and putting his gun away.

"Don't ever fucking do that again" he reprimanded "I'm already on edge enough as it is" he gave Sheik a final glare, before mounting the wire fence and crawling up it, Claire and then Yunsung following after.

They dropped down quietly on the other side, dashing across to the light grey building that housed the offices.

"Sheik," Chris called "You go first, …can you get up there on your own?" he pointed to a small window that was broken, jagged pieces of glass sticking out from the frame.

Sheik nodded, walking to the window and jumping grabbing the frame and hoisting himself up. He planted his feet on the wall, then reached out with one hand to move it inside the building, then repeated the motion with his other hand. Tensing his arms so that they could hold his weight, he lifted his feet from the wall, and bunched himself up, letting them come to rest on the small frame so that he was crouched in the window. He glanced around quickly, checking if anyone was around and then dropped into the corridor, crouching just out of the way of the window.

Chris watched as the blonde slowly pulled himself up onto the window, then dropped inside. He turned to look at Yunsung and flinched his head to the window, motioning for him to go.

The red head walked over and looked up. The window was about eight foot up the ten foot high or so building. The window itself was only about a foot high, meaning that you had to be fairly small to fit inside, and he wondered just how he was going to reach it and crawl in. Finally, he turned back to Chris.

"Give me a boost up" he demanded quietly

Rolling his eyes, Chris walked over to him and crouched down , lacing his fingers whilst watching Yunsung draw his sword. Yunsung stepped onto Chris hand, and as soon as the man stood up, thrust his sword inside the window, turning it horizontally so that it could hold his weight. With White Storm in place, Yunsung used it to pull himself up and propel himself inside, knocking a piece of glass out of the frame as he did.

He crouched, following Sheik's example and suddenly felt vulnerable in the long bare corridor. It was plain white, the floor tiled, the walls painted, trying to give the impression the blank, cramped corridor was more spacious than it seemed. It wasn't working and Yunsung felt almost claustrophobic in the hallway, despite its seemingly never ending length. Glancing up, Yunsung noticed that the lights were long strips, brighter than was natural. The light was harsh, unyielding and the Korean realised that this was probably what the whole building was like. From what he had heard from Chris, Wesker's office would be far different, almost comfortable and homey compared to this, even it was the office of a man who had committed sin's that the devil himself wouldn't want to.

A shadow suddenly draped itself over him and he turned to see the lithe figure of Claire, fitting neatly inside the small window. She dropped down, the only sound being a light tap as her knee high black boots hit the floor. She offered him a small smile to try and ease his nervous, seeing the tenseness in his back and shoulders, and moved back, giving Chris room to drop down.

A few minutes later, he did so, landing a bit more heavily than his sister, dropping to his knees so that his combat boots didn't make too loud a noise. He winced slightly as knees struck the floor, but made no noise and he straightened, walking to in front of Sheik to take the lead, making sure Claire was in front of Yunsung so that she was near him and safe.

Chris walked quickly and quietly down the hall, his gun in his hand, scanning everything in the corridor to make sure that there was nothing that could surprise them. When he reached the corner just before Wesker's office, he slowly edged out glancing around the corner, and then quickly strode to the dark wooden door that had his old enemies name etched into it.

Claire watched from behind Sheik as her brother pressed his ear to the door, his face set in a look of concentration. Finally he pulled back a little to glance through the gap between the door and its frame, and a look of anxiousness passed over his handsome features, his eyes darting up and down the narrow gap. To her surprise, he drew his magnum, putting the berretta away, and held the new gun tightly in his right hand, his left moving to the brass door handle. Glancing back he gave her a look that told her what was wrong and then he turned his head away, pressed down on the door handle, shoving his shoulder against it, so that the door burst inwards. Claire sat still, fully aware of what was wrong. Chris was actually scanning the room, looking it over for an occupant and after a moment or two he lowered his gun, his shoulders slumping.

She quickly moved past Sheik and into the office to stand next to her brother. Taking in the room, much in the same way that he had done. It was devoid of human life. Chris breathed out quietly and summed up the situation in one word as the last two of the team moved in and closed the door.

"Shit."

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YAY! BAD LANGUAGE! I'm a naughty girl...anyway...keep those reviews coming! 


	13. Chapter 13

A.N: Same as usual, thank you reviewers!

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Chapter 12

Yunsung stepped around the large room, taking in details, to find out if Wesker and chum might just be hiding somewhere. It didn't seem likely. The room, though large, was mainly empty. There was a large desk in the middle of the room, maybe mahogany in its material, set on a plush dark red carpet. The floor consisted of white tiles, much like that of the halls outside, but the walls were a sort of beige colour, with a strip of dark wood at the bottom coming up only about a foot.

Apart from the desk, there were only one or two more pieces of furniture in the almost cavernous chamber. A filing cabinet stood beside the far wall, a mirror hanging on the wall, and a comfortable black leather sofa on the far right, a small end table next to it with a few books on it. A few plants in pots stood in various places around the room, and though it seemed to be comfortable and inviting at first glance, after a slightly closer inspection, it certainly wasn't and the room seemed to radiate a sort of feeling over detest towards its guests. Perhaps not unlike Wesker himself, seeming a nice enough person at first glance, but when you got to know him…

Chris walked over to Wesker's sparsely decorated desk that only had a computer and a filing system adorning the top of it. It was all strictly neat and organised, the letters neatly set into one of the trays, a few spare sheets of paper with Wesker's report about something lying on top.

Chris frowned and grabbed the sheets, shuffling them in his hands. Wesker wasn't the type of person to leave this stuff lying around and so Chris sank into the large black chair behind the desk, and began to read.

Billy sat crouched next to Wesker's office door, listening intently. There was no sound coming from inside the room, so he cautiously got up, and opened the door, gun drawn.

Chris was sitting behind a desk, reading off a few sheets of paper and Claire was shuffling through a filing cabinet whereas Yunsung was milling around aimlessly, and Sheik was looking through the books on a small glass table near a black sofa. Walking further into the room, Billy put his gun away, looking around and wondered briefly just how pissed Chris was.

"I thought he was definitely going to be here," Maxi commented, having just closed the door behind him, a sharp black eyebrow raised at the 'leader' who was engrossed in some papers that seemed to be making him angry.

Chris finished the paragraph he had been reading and glanced up to the pirate. "I thought he would be," he bit out, but sounding more tired and depressed than angry at Maxi.

"What's the paper?" Billy asked, trying to intervene in case Chris decided to get angry, which was often the case.

"Reports," Chris answered "On Raccoon City and Umbrella…before both were blown sky high"

"Did we get a mentioning?"

"Well the STARS did…and Leon and Claire…but I don't know if you did."

"Charming"

"Probably doesn't know your name"

Billy snorted in mock offence.

"However…there is a fair amount of Wesker's feelings about the STARS here."

"Oh?...You mean besides him hating you"

"No, but just listen to this"

He cleared his throat and quoted from the report "Never did I imagine that S.T.A.R.S. could slay the evil creation. I lost the Tyrant and the plan I devised which cost me my humanity ended in failure. Now anything and anyone who stood in my way would be terminated. It's been that way for a long time and it always will be. At all costs I had to make S.T.A.R.S pay" he exaggerated the words

"Really that bad huh?"

"Apparently"

Billy was about to say something more, when the door burst open, and he turned to see Jill standing in the doorway, her gun aimed at his forehead.

"Would you like to talk or just shoot us now?" Maxi quipped, joining Claire.

"You're an asshole at times Maxi" Link stated, stepping past Jill and Leon.

Sheik snorted over by the pile of books, and the group guessed that it was probably him agreeing with Link.

"So what do we do now?" Liam asked

At this the collection of people in the room turned to look at Chris, who was sitting behind Wesker's desk still.

"We try to find information on what he was planning to do and as much about the virus as possible. Some of you can help Claire and Maxi with those files. Leon you come here. Let's see if we can get into Wesker's computer"

Leon wandered over to Chris looking at the monitor of the computer. They were on the log in page, the words HCF, emblazoned on the background.

"You think you'll be able to hack in?" Chris asked

"Possibly, if you let me sit down" he grinned at Chris as he got up and sank into the chair himself "In the meantime you should probably see if he's got a laptop or anything"

Chris nodded "It's unlikely he'd keep personal tests on the work site"

He started digging through the, trying to find anything in the drawers, calling Jill over to unlock one of the locked drawers.

"Bingo" Jill whispered triumphantly, watching Chris lift a silver laptop out of the draw.

It was five minutes later, as Chris was logging into the laptop, which, surprisingly, Wesker had left without a password that Leon announced,

"There's no way I can get into here tonight, if ever, you'd need an expert hacker and a hell of a lot of time to get past this. From what I can see by creating a worm, the passwords are changed every week and are usually longer than ten letters, not to mention that you have to have personal information to log in"

"We might not need it," Jill commented, looking at the thin laptop screen "There's a camera in here, that's why he left the laptop without a password"

"You mean Wesker knows we're here?" Yunsung asked

Jill nodded "And the camera is pointing to a distinct patch on the wall. Distinct to the camera anyway, a person would miss it"

Jill strolled around the room, trailing her hand along the wall as Chris watched the screen "Stop" he called "Your hand's right in the centre of the screen"

Jill turned her head, looking up to where the camera was situated. It was small, but visible. She turned back to the wall, trailing her hand to the left, and feeling the slightest gap in the wall.

"Everyone stop. There's a gap in the wall, a door and I should be able to get in….whose got a really thin bladed knife or something"

"That'd be Sheik" Link commented, turning to look at the red eyed youth.

The former mention walked across to Jill, pulling one of his needle blades out of his belt and handing it to her.

Taking it she slid it down the gap, then stepped back and waited. After a few seconds the thin metal door swung outwards, revealing a dark passage.

Chris stepped away from the desk, drew out his gun and aimed at the camera. It disappeared with a loud bang and a small shower of sparks.

"Alright, single file everyone." He commanded, pulling out his torch and turning it on, aiming down into the darkness.

Jill followed suit, falling into place behind Chris. The rest filed behind them, Billy and Leon at the back lighting the way for those without any means of lighting the area.

Link glanced around at the darkness that was pressing against him, sniffing quietly at the dense stale air in the thin corridor. It smelled of strong disinfectant, stronger than the stuff they used in the infirmary in the castle, which was more there to cover up the smell of blood and medicine's that hung in the air. Here though, whilst it may have been because they were moving into a lab, he got the impression that somebody had spread it around just to make people feel sick.

Not that you really needed the smell to do that. The effect of being sandwiched in the middle of the group was already making Link feel light-headed and the corridors were reminding him of Ganondorf's fortress. The lower dungeons, which had been empty when Link had got there, had reeked of blood, vomit, urine and faeces of long suffering people. The smell was very faintly in the air here, and it added to the already tense atmosphere.

After a few more minutes of silence they turned a corner, and moving down another corridor, the thin beams of Jill and Chris's torches caught a glimmer of metal. It was a door, made entirely of metal, like the one upstairs, but this one was far thicker, and there was an intercom by the side of the door.

Chris moved aside for Jill to pass, and she walked up to the card reader by the door. Taking out Sheik's blade from her own belt, she poised it above the reader.

Chris turned back to the others, who had clustered together in the slightly larger corridor.

"Right" he whispered "I don't want all of us going in, so only six of us will. The remaining six will wait out here. And before you start complaining, there's good reason for you to wait out here. You can act as backup if we needed, warn us against any dangers that might come down here, it'll be too large a group for us all to go in, and the information that we can gain can be related back to you by whoever goes in."

The group members nodded sullenly at being split up.

"Myself, Link and Siegfried are definitely going in…is there anyone else who wants to come in?"

"I will" Claire stated, stepping forward.

"Except you, Claire and Jill"

"No way. I'm coming in!" Jill exclaimed glaring at her husband, whilst Claire just sighed resignedly and leaned against the wall. "I was betrayed by Wesker as much as you were, Chris. Just because you watched him die"

Chris rolled his eyes but conceded "Alright, and I want Billy in as well as back up…who else is to go in?"

Maxi, at the back of the group, gave Kilik a gentle shove. "He will" Maxi spoke up "He might be useful if you find something he can help with"

Chris nodded. "OK. That's all six of us. Leon, you've got contact with us, yes?"

Leon blinked slowly and then pulled a microphone and earpiece out from his pack, fitting them into place. "Good," Chris pulled out his own earpiece and slotted it inside his ear. He pulled his Magnum and nodded to Jill, who swiped the blade through the reader, putting it away, once the door started moving outwards. Leon and the others who were left behind slipped into the shadows to avoid being seen by Wesker.

Kilik stepped into the room behind Siegfried, studying it, trying to discern any shapes in the darkness.

Behind him, the door slowly slid shut.

Chris narrowed his eyes as he looked around the room, trying to figure out where Wesker was. His heart sped up slightly, thinking that this could be the end for one of them…if Wesker was in the room. And as if his thoughts had been read, Wesker's drawled voice came out of the darkness.

"Well done, Christopher. Though, it took you a bit long to get down here, don't you think?"

Chris gritted his teeth at the sound of that voice, and turned to see a slight glow coming from behind where his ex-captain was sitting, his shape silhouetted with the faint light.

"Wesker," Chris hissed

"Correct. Though you should know me by now Chris"

Link looked over to the man speaking and strained his eyes in the darkness, trying to pick out the details of the form.

At the moment Wesker was silhouetted by the light from the laptop screen behind him, and all Link could really see was his body shape. From what he could see, Link could tell that he was in pretty good shape.

He was pretty tall for a start, probably about six foot or more, meaning he was taller even than Chris and Leon, and considering Link was only about five foot eight, it was an impressive height. Apart from that he had broad shoulders and chest, tapering to a slim waist, much more than it would usually for a male in his age group, or what Link assumed to be his age group. The only thing he could make out apart from that was that he was rather muscular and dressed smartly from the shoulders of the coat he was wearing.

"I see you brought some friends Chris…Aaron turn up the lights for our guests" he commanded, and Aaron grudgingly adjusted the dimmer switch near the back of the room.

The light didn't completely illuminate the room; still it was bright enough for Wesker's features to be seen, but they were shadowed slightly, and it made Link feel uneasy. He knew that this was probably a tactic on Wesker's behalf to try and un-nerve the people who hadn't met him before.

Link raised his eyebrows slightly as he studied Wesker, surprised by the look of the man.

He was sitting in a tall chair set near the back of the room, and at the moment, he seemed perfectly relaxed, his shoulders straight enough to give him a look of power, but sloping slightly to allow his elbows to rest on the arms of the chair, his fingers laced together, meeting at about the height of his collarbone.

His left leg was crossed over the right slightly, so that his ankle was resting on his right knee, his foot hanging down, emphasizing the length of his legs, how tall he was.

His face, or what Link could see of it, for there was a strip of shadow cast down the middle of it, was fairly long, with strong, elegant features that made Link think that perhaps he would have been suited better in a life as an actor or model. There was something regal about his appearance too, probably mainly the strength of his finely chiseled features, the high-cheekbones, strong jaw line and chin. He had a rather long narrow nose too, and thin pale lips that were currently set into an almost gentle smirk, and his hair was a golden blonde, darkened at the moment so that it almost looked brown, that was due to the lighting.

His eyes though, strangely, were covered with glasses and Link got the feeling that they were going to be intense, no matter what their colour.

Kilik glanced to Link, watching him run his eyes over Wesker's form, before returning to watch the coldly handsome man himself. His clothes only further emphasized that look of power. A suit with a turtleneck jumper under it, all in black.

Wesker raised an eyebrow, letting the newcomers study him, before breaking the silence.

"It's nice to see you again Miss Valentine, or should I say, Mrs. Redfield…you too Mr. Coen"

Jill scowled at Wesker, whilst Billy cocked his head slightly "How do you know me?"

"I was keeping an eye on things in the Umbrella training Facility when you and Miss Chambers stumbled in, I learned your name thanks to Rebecca…though I have to admit, I would have been grateful if you had actually been a murderer and killed her for me"

"Shut up." Chris bit out "We're not here to listen to your insane drivel Wesker"

Wesker ignored him and look to the other three, casting his eyes over them.

"Boring," he commented as he skimmed over Kilik "Insane," for Siegfried and then "Ah…so you must be one of the Hylians. I admit, I've been looking forward to meeting you"

Link curled his lip in disgust and stepped back, baring his teeth at Wesker in a snarl. There had been something in his tone that had unnerved Link. Something that was vaguely predatory almost…sexual in a way.

Wesker grinned at the blonde boy's reaction to his words, or rather their tone.

"You Hylians are a fascinating race…so beautiful and peaceful, yet holding a sense of greater power that seems beyond a human. But I digress…tell me, how is your wife?"

Link snarled again and spat at Wesker. The darker blonde looked down at the saliva on the floor distastefully.

"Leave him alone Wesker, and let's get down to why we're here?" Chris barked at his ex-boss.

"Ah, yes…your search for a cure against the Anodyne virus, and information concerning it"

Chris stared at Wesker

"Very well, I'll tell you what you want to know…The Anodyne Virus is infecting both worlds, and is capable of mutating the body more than the G virus…if the carrier is strong enough to survive the mutation. It is comprised of a mixture of the G, T and Plaga virus, that your friend, Mr. Kennedy was infected with, was it eight years ago?"

"And what's the point of it?"

"To create an army of unstoppable bio-weapons of course…one that responds to commands. The T- virus kills the body, purposefully, much like the zombies to make them difficult to kill, the G virus allows them to mutate rapidly, and the Plaga allows me to control them."

At the back of the room, Aaron hissed loudly at Wesker, and the group turned to him, looking at his form hunched in the corner.

"Ah, yes. I suppose you already know him, but may I introduce you to Aaron. He's a pure physical manifestation of the virus"

"Yeah, we know"

"Oh good" Wesker muttered sarcastically

"So where's the cure?" Chris demanded

"Why does that matter….I'm hardly going to let you have it, now am I?"

"Just tell me Wesker"

"I think it's better not to. Anyway…would you like to see how the worlds are coping with the effects of the virus?"

"How are you going to show us that?" Jill asked "More of your high-tech stuff no doubt"

"To some extent…a few cameras around Hyrule and the other world, giving us a constant, live feed…of course we're going to have to show you some taped footage as the villages where we positioned some of the cameras have been destroyed…in the Demonic Swords world, anyway"

"You bastard" Siegfried growled out lowly, tightening his grip on the hilt of Requiem

"Heh…that's a little hypocritical, don't you think?" Wesker responded "No doubt that you've killed as many or maybe even more people than I have, Herr Schtauffen"

"That's….." Siegfried trailed off, looking away momentarily, before returning to glaring at Wesker

"Aaron" Wesker turned slightly, addressing the BOW, who looked up at him in a way that suggested that he would like to do nothing more than gut Wesker where he stood.

"Play the recording from test world one from yesterday, I'm sure Mr. Schtauffen and his…companion would like to see their friends"

Aaron sat in the corner and glared up at Wesker, but did nothing more than continuing to sit in the corner.

"Now" Wesker seethed, his eyes narrowing at the insubordination.

Aaron grudgingly got up from the floor and walked across to a console at the back wall, pressing at buttons, before a TV screen set into the back wall turned on.

The footage that was playing showed the fight between the Virus monster and the Soul warriors yesterday, when Raphael had been in the forest and run to the village.

Kilik and Siegfried growled when they saw the other warriors trying to defeat the monster, and the Chinaman let out a small cry of despair when he saw Xianghua being flung to the ground like a ragdoll. The video then swapped to a few images of the village of Ostreheinsburg, where Soul Edge was usually guarded by Siegfried. The walls were spattered by a gloss of red blood in most places, a few dismembered corpses lying in the gutters of the streets, crows pecking at the flesh.

"Fortunately for you," Wesker commented, looking pointedly at the crows "The virus will only infect humanoids…birds and other creatures seem to be immune to it"

"And that's supposed to make us feel better" Kilik bit out lowly "To know that our friends won't have to deal with creepy zombified crows as well"

"It should…you wouldn't believe the damage T-virus infected crows can do…although I'm sure that Chris can enlighten you by telling you about Forest"

Chris snarled but said nothing.

"Play the Hyrule tapes" Wesker murmured to Aaron, shooting a nasty glare at him when he hesitated

The tape that was playing showed various clips of race mutations from around Hyrule, documenting the mutations of all the races, Gerudo, Hylian, Kokiri, Goron and Zora.

Link gasped and then growled slightly at the footage of the Kokiri mutations, recognizing the mutating individual, watching Saria, Mido and the others running from the creation.

"This was taken about a week ago, so most of those kids you see running will probably all be dead by now" Wesker commented, chuckling darkly whilst he did, watching the disgusted expressions on the group members faces.

The Kokiri in fact mutated practically into a Stalfos, the layers of skin being shed like clothing until nothing but bone and some muscle remained, a pair of milky white eyes glaring out of the sockets.

"That however" Wesker started and his 'audience' turned to him "Is not my main interest at this point in time"

"And let me guess, your sick mind games with Zelda is" Link spat

"Correct. Your wife is in a very delicate state, and you Hylians are sensitive enough as it is. I can't resist causing some emotion torment from time to time…I have to have my fun too, and the rest of this is just work"

"You're sick" Jill stated quietly "Then again, I should know that already from the way you betrayed STARS"

"Why do you people have a clinical obsession with the past? What good does it do to dwell on painful memories and work your way into a state of depression?"

Jill and Chris were silent, realizing that they didn't know entirely why they did dwell on it, except for the memories of their comrades who died.

"But…that's of no concern at this dramatic moment. I'll treat you to a status report on the Princess…" Wesker waved his hand in a dismissing sort of gesture

Aaron sat on the desk, knowing that his Commander wanted the files on Zelda, but not wanting to obey.

"Aaron…need I remind you of what will happen if you don't do as I ask?"

Aaron snorted "Lock me up in a room for a day?...Oh the horror" he pointed out sarcastically "Not exactly a harsh punishment, is it?"

Wesker narrowed is eyes at his creation while he continued "And I'm too valuable to you for you to damage irreparably"

"Irreparably, yes….but not enough to avoid punishing altogether…and besides, if I push to hard and you die, I can just create another"

"Which will take weeks"

"It'll be worth it if it doesn't turn into an insubordinate half-creature like you"

Chris raised an eyebrow slightly at the argument between the two, not expecting Wesker to be having trouble controlling his creation and he wondered how far he would let Aaron go before he lashed out. It proved to be not much more.

"Half – creature? That's no less than what you are, sir" he drawled sarcastically "After all, you're hardly more than a glorified human really, are you?"

It was at this point that Wesker decided Aaron had gone too far. In just a few strides he had reached where the creature was sitting, drew back his fist and struck him across the face...hard. The punch was strong enough to knock the creature off where he was sitting on the console, and land in a heap by the opposite side of it.

"I'm afraid that I'm going to have to deal with Aaron for now….my pets will escort you out" he stabbed a button on the console, then walked over to Aaron who was still on the floor, trying to recover.

Chris watched him stride over, and then suddenly lost interest a few seconds later, when a cry from Leon sounded in his ear and something struck the door.

"I think it's time to leave" Chris commented and threw himself at the door, which banged open into the corridor.

Chris looked down the corridor to see why Leon had cried out.

Only 5 feet away, was a pack of Hunters…and they looked hungry.

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You know the drill...please review:) 


	14. Chapter 14

A.N: Ok, same as usual. Thank you to all peebles who are reviewing.

As a note, some of you probably won't like this chapter...please don't hurt me.

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Chapter 13

Link, Siegfried and Kilik stared at the strange green amphibious looking creatures that were crouched before them, tapping overly long claws on the floor. They were like nothing the trio had ever seen before and it gave them an idea of how powerful Wesker was to have these things under his control, and how hard Umbrella must have been to bring down.

Link glanced to his left where Chris was standing, and noted the look on his face, a mixture of terror, hatred and concentration. The expression changed rapidly though when one of the hunters threw back its head and screeched, the noise coming out somewhere between nails being scraped down a blackboard and metal being wrenched apart.

"Run," Chris breathed and took a few steps back whilst Link followed his orders and turned and ran, sprinting up the thin corridors, behind Billy, who was leading the way with his torch.

For a few minutes the only sounds that Link could hear were the now labouring breaths of his companions, the steady pounding of their feet hitting the floor, and the occasional screech from a hunter, the long claws clicking over the floor.

"Hurry it up!" Chris yelled, almost breathlessly, from behind the group "They're closing in on us and the corridors are too thin for us to fight them in here."

Billy upped his speed as much as he could, but they were running up a gradual slope, and above the pounding of his heart and feet, he could hear that Leon and the others weren't too far ahead. But he could see the light of the office ahead and he called to Leon to stop and help them fight, flinging himself towards the door and remembering, with a strange sense of nostalgia, just why they were called Hunters.

Link followed Billy out the door and was greeted with the sight of the other six people, all panting, and all with their weapons drawn.

Chris was the last out of the corridor, and he quickly made his way to the front of the group, taking up his place between Claire and Jill, the Soul warriors and Hyrulians acting as back up in case one of the gunmen faltered, and the creatures broke through the frontlines.

Chris hissed back to Maxi "Make sure the door is closed and keep an eye out for anyone coming this way…if they do we'll have to abandon the fight and leg it."

Maxi rolled his eyes at not being used as back up, but slid up to the door and pressed his ear against it, listening for any noise.

Chris glanced back at the pirate, then turned his attention to the Hunter that was emerging from the dark passage way, followed by its kin, its lithe sinuous body slinking stealthily towards him, then stopping to let the others gather.

He raised the gun slowly, taking aim at one of those golden reptilian eyes that were so much like their masters.

The others were doing the same, Billy raising his shotgun to one of the ones that looked like it was about to leap.

Chris looked back at the Hunter and watched it carefully, waiting for it to move. The Hunter did the same, watching the human training its weapon on it, and then paced backwards and forwards a little, before leaping at the lead human in the front, its kin following suit, all aiming for the same human.

Chris fired as the Hunter leapt at him, four or five shots from the magnum, smashing into the creatures face, turning it into a bloody mass of tissue, the eyes no longer resembling what they were supposed to.

The body landed behind Chris, carried by momentum, and then the others were landing on top of it missing Chris as he side stepped the attack and then turned on them, firing once more into the back of the head of the nearest one and then backing up to reload.

The others continued to fire on the four remaining Hunters that were now on their feet in front of them, Billy making the most impact with the shotgun.

What the gunmen didn't notice however, was the new load of Hunters that had come up through the passageway.

Yunsung did though, and he called to the people firing on the creatures, whilst slipping round the side of them to take on the new comers, Link, Siegfried and Liam following him.

Maxi winced as he saw Siegfried's heavy sword land in the middle of the body of the final Hunter. Chris was walking around with Kilik, having him roll the corpses over with Kali Yuga.

When he came to Link and Liam's, which were now decapitated, he strode past without a second look, and stopped at the one Siegfried had been fighting.

His attack hadn't killed it, merely paralyzed it, snapping the creatures spinal cord. The result was that the creature was lying on the floor, in a pool of its own blood, and making a noise somewhat akin to mewling in what they assumed was pain. The injury meant that it couldn't move, but it could feel everything, and it could turn it's head slightly, looking up at Chris.

Chris stared at the creature for a moment, then crouched down next to it, understanding that it couldn't hurt him. He checked the ammo for his magnum, and sat on his haunches for a moment, studying the dying creature as it wailed in pain. His face softened slightly as he looked down at it.

Whilst Chris didn't like the Hunters, for obvious reasons, he couldn't really blame them for attacking. They were following orders and instinct, doing what they were created to do. Basically, they were dumb animals that had been turned into soldiers, and despite the fact he held a deep resentment for them, he couldn't help pitying them, especially this one.

Raising the Magnum, Chris leaned forward, placing his left hand on the scaly head, to hold it fully still as he pressed the barrel of the gun to the creatures head and pulled the trigger.

Chris stood up abruptly and wiped the blood off himself, turning to the rest of the group.

"There's nothing else here to do, no notes or anything that I can see to take, seeing as Wesker probably has all his details on a computer downstairs," he sighed a bit "Let's go home, and don't touch the bodies."

He holstered the gun under his armpit and opened the door, stepping out and jogging back to the window where they'd entered, the rest of the group in tow.

Down in the labs, Wesker slumped against the wall outside the lab where he'd just confronted Chris and his friends. He could still smell the musky scent of human flesh that lingered in the corridor, able to tell who had been there from the scents.

Aaron had been one of them, and he had hung around here for a moment, before making his way out of the underground almost labyrinth.

Wesker growled to himself, rubbing at a bruise on his shoulder that had formed from his fight with Aaron. The creature had finally snapped, and the two had got into a fight which Aaron had a won, and then ran from as the 'victor'.

Wesker however had needed a few minutes to collect himself, and had lingered in the lab before coming out into the hall. He could smell blood though, among the heavier musky smell of male humans, the lighter scent that was slightly flowered of the females and the sanitizers in the rooms, there was definitely blood and he didn't think that it was the humans.

Wesker pushed himself away from the wall and walked slowly up the corridors, limping as he did so, his hip aching from where it had slammed into the corner of the control console in the room. The wound hadn't healed yet, it would take a while, for his body was trying to heal the larger more serious wounds, and therefore, he could feel a slight trail of blood sliding down his thigh.

When he finally got into his office however, the small wound was the least of his concerns.

The bodies of ten of his Hunters were lying on the floor in various places, gunshot wounds sprinkled over them, a couple missing their heads, which at a guess, was the work of Link and co. The bullet wounds were obviously Chris and the others, but that in itself wasn't what had actually shocked and outraged Wesker.

Aaron had been in the room too, and he had completely ruined the once perfect bodies of the reptiles.

The various limbs had been ripped off and thrown around the room, the bodies torn in half or eviscerated, blood trickling out of the torn bodies.

One of the bodies had been propped up in the chair behind the desk, its detached head sitting on the place mat, staring back at the torso.

Wesker snarled slightly at the mutilated remains of what had literally been his pets. Though he had never had a liking for animals that much, he had found the Hunters intriguing and consequently had kept a group downstairs in a large compound that was like a playpen for the creatures. It had meant he could still study their behaviour and have a pet with a practical use, such as chasing down and tearing apart intruders.

He turned slightly and looked at the wall to his right, and read the 'message' on the wall that was written in the hunters' blood.

'_Better luck next time, glorified human'_.

Turning on his heel, Wesker stormed back down to the basement, not stopping until he reached the pen, where the remaining five hunters lay.

Sitting on the floor and watching them, Wesker knew that he would have to get rid of Aaron before he destroyed his research.

Leon slumped down onto the sofa in the living room, Claire at his side and everyone else finding a suitable place on the floor to slump. He glanced at his watch briefly, noticing that it was five minutes until midnight…they had been out for only two hours, give or take.

"Well," Chris started "That didn't go as planned…but…at least we found out something. We're going to have to make a return trip to there sometime in the near future though."

"Why?" Sheik asked

"We didn't get the anti virus, and without that, we can't cure the mutations."

"I would like to return to Hyrule before we venture out again to see how the situation there is."

"That's a fair enough request," Jill commented, and Chris nodded in agreement "We'll go tomorrow, and yes, we're coming with you."

The Hylians nodded slightly.

Chris turned to look at the door. "Jill and I are gonna head home…we'll be over at about eight."

"If you can get out of bed in time," Jill muttered and walked towards the door "Goodnight everyone" she called, Chris following suit, closing the door behind him.

"I'm going too…I'll be over about the same time as Chris and Jill so I'll see you tomorrow." Billy stated, walking out the door.

"Alright everyone," Claire started, "You know where you're sleeping so Leon and I are going to bed, we'll wake you up if you're not up by the time we are."

Link watched as Leon and Claire made their way up the small hall to their bedroom, then turned to look at Maxi and Yunsung, who were squabbling over who was going to sleep on the sofa.

"You two," Link scolded "In case you hadn't noticed, it goes round a corner, there's enough room for both of you."

Maxi looked to Link, then grinned sheepishly, crawling to the other part and stretching out on it, grabbing one the blankets that were hidden behind the cushions, and throwing them to the other men in the room.

Liam was curling up on one of the armchairs, and Link made his way over to the other one.

Kilik settled himself in front of the sofa, wrapping a couple of blankets around himself for padding.

Only Sheik and Siegfried remained awake, Sheik sitting on a cushion and seeming to be praying. Siegfried stood in front of the window, casting his gaze across sleeping Washington DC, a few lights dotted around in the distance.

Sighing to himself he turned and lay on the carpeting in the centre of the room, closing his eyes as he started to doze.

Kilik stretched slightly as he woke up, a little later than usual it seemed, for everyone else was up and getting ready. Leon and Claire were in the kitchen, he noted, hearing the voices coming from there. Liam and Link were talking to Sheik, conversing about something, Hyrule no doubt.

Maxi was the only one who wasn't out of bed, but he looked fully awake and was listening to the conversation between Billy and Yunsung, who seemed to be having an argument that was gradually heating up, and by the looks of the hand motions, Yunsung was losing.

The sailor turned his attention to Kilik as he caught the movement of him stretching in the corner of his eye.

"Good morning," he greeted, grinning as usual "It's about time you woke up, it's ten to eight."

Kilik grunted in response, running a hand through his hair to try and get it in something that resembled a style, rather than a nest that had been built on his head. He padded off to the bathroom a moment later, straightening out his clothing.

Maxi's smile widened at Kilik's behaviour, not used to seeing the priest so like this.

"He's tired huh?" Leon asked, sitting on the sofa next to Maxi's feet.

"Yeah, someone finally did it…..any idea when Chris and J…" he was cut off by the sound of the front door opening.

"Morning everyone," Jill chirped as she walked into the room, Chris in tow, not looking quiet as good as his wife, and definitely not in a cheerful mood.

A response was murmured by everyone in the room, and Claire waved as she came out of the kitchen, and replied to Jill before diving for the phone as it started ringing.

Unsurprisingly, it was Sora, calling from Barry's house. She chatted quietly with her daughter, asking what she had been up to and such, before realizing that they had only said goodbye to her at eight o clock last night.

"Where's Kilik?" Chris asked, sitting on the arm of the sofa.

Maxi waved his hand towards the general direction of the bathroom.

Leon stood up "He'll be out in a sec, and then we can go." He took the phone that was handed to him by his wife, and talked quietly to his daughter before saying goodbye as Kilik came out of the bathroom, and grabbed a piece of fruit off the table for his breakfast.

"Alright, let's go."

It was ten minutes later that the group was moving into Hyrule, strolling across the fields in the direction of the castle.

"Wow," Claire breathed, "I forgot what it was like coming here."

Link smiled back at her, striding across the green plains leisurely, glad to be home. There was also no sign of infection around here, although the usually fast flowing river was now just a muddy trickle and a rapidly drying out bed of soil.

To their right Sheik was whistling loudly, presumably calling his horse over. The black and grey stallion soon made his way over to his master, having been grazing on the plain.

Sheik patted the horse lightly and then slipped onto his back. From his new vantage point, he could see a figure on the hill way off to their left.

"Link," Sheik called "There's someone on the hill."

Link and Liam turned to look at the figure. "Stay here," Link muttered to the others and then ran up the hill, drawing his sword, Liam following close behind.

Claire watched the two men dash off up the hill, then turned her gaze back to Sheik when he announced that he would be continuing onto the castle.

"I'm guessing that's not an enemy," Chris commented, seeing the two young Hylians greeting the person.

Billy snorted and rolled his eyes, looking around at the countryside, having never been here before.

The trio that had been on the hill jogged down to the waiting group.

"Raphael!"

The shout came from Siegfried, Maxi and Kilik. Yunsung had been watching Sheik go and merely answered with "Huh?"

The blonde Frenchman trotted towards the group, raising his hand in a greeting to the assembly.

"What are you doing here?" Maxi asked, cocking his head slightly, recalling that Raphael had previously despised the idea of coming back to Hyrule.

Raphael raised an eyebrow "And how are you Maxi, I hope you're well after your excursion to the modern world" he answered sarcastically.

"We can discuss this on the way back to the castle," Link said shortly "It's best to keep moving lest we attract….unwanted attention"

They moved off again, walking quickly towards the castle.

"So why are you here?" Liam asked

"We have a few problems in our world" Raphael answered

"We saw," Siegfried muttered

"What do you mean, we saw?"

"Wesker provided us with a nice little clip of you fighting that monster" Maxi replied

"Wesker?" Raphael asked

"We'll explain on the way"

As the group of twelve made their way to the castle, they discussed the events that had transpired in the worlds, trading information until they reached the drawbridge.

"Let's stop talking about this for now….people tend to freak out or start rumours" Link murmured, calling to the guards, who peeked over the top of the battlements to look down at the people below. A few minutes later the bridge lowered and they trotted over it quickly before anything came along.

When they reached the town centre Link and Liam frowned at the state of the area.

There were about five stalls out all together, compared to the usual twenty or thirty that were crammed along the sides of the streets. Only a few people wandered around the area, glumly wandering over to a stall or a shop to see if there was anything worth buying, as if spending money would cheer them up.

About ten guards were posted around the square, two on the way to the castle, two on the path to the temple of time, and more on the routes that led to the houses and back alleys.

"Christ" Chris muttered, scanning the area "Guess people are already freaked out."

"Not really sir, we ask that people don't come out of their houses too much. Though we don't force them to stay in if they don't want to. They seem to prefer staying indoors lately." The guard behind them informed, who was walking back to the castle, presumably for the change of shift.

"How's the water supply?" Link asked as he came up besides him

"Not too good, and the recent heat wave has wiped out a lot of the crops….what the King plans to do if we don't have enough food, I don't know."

Link nodded as the guard trotted up to the castle to fetch the new guard.

"C'mon….I think we should get inside quickly"

They hurried up to the castle and were let inside without hesitation. The guards were normally sarcastic or mocking of the people that came with Link back to the castle, but today they just seemed to want to get everyone inside and keep them safe. There were no snide remarks, or even friendly jokes made to him or Liam, just a 'welcome back, sirs. Gaiden will escort you to the castle'

They were led to the drawbridge to the castle, and the guard waited with them until the drawbridge had opened and then closed after they were inside.

Billy looked around the small flowered area that was in front of the main entrance to the castle, then down the path that lead away.

The flowers were wilting, and there was no sound of running water from fountains, a stream, or even the moat.

A large image of the Triforce with its guardian phoenix encircling it with its wings was above the double doors, and Billy took a moment to wonder just how much real gold was inlaid into the massive image.

"It's all real gold," Liam commented, seeing him stare up at it "If you see something in the castle that looks gold, it probably is, especially if it's of the Triforce."

He followed Link up the shallow steps to the double doors and slipped inside, holding the doors open for the rest of the group.

Billy again looked around the immediate area, and felt his jaw drop open slightly at the inside of the building.

He had seen pictures of all the old castles in his world, all the artwork and remaining artifacts and tapestries, but he had never been able to grasp or believe just how grand they had been. It had just seemed like a child's fairytale, and then again, so did this. But this was real.

The walls of the long echoing hall were at least thirty feet high, made out of grey stone that was probably granite, that had been smoothed down and the stoned slotted together so well that the gaps could barely be seen. And that was where the walls were bare.

The hall was probably as long as it was tall, and only a few patches of polished grey peeked out between the multitude of massive, colourful tapestries that depicted Hyrule's past. Each one had to be six foot high and three foot wide, made of deep purple, royal blue or dark red silk, interwoven with gold and sliver thread, a Triforce adorning the top of each one.

The one that really amazed him, and the rest of the newcomers though, was the one suspended above the seven foot high mahogany doors that lead to the throne room.

Its size was immeasurable.

"Silk," Link commented, gesturing to it "The back ground is one massive sheet of silk, the patterns are woven silk or satin threads save for the gold and silver, which are real."

The tapestry's background was pitch black, with a picture of the earth, or what symbolised the earth in the centre of it. The three goddesses were gathered around it, in ruby, sapphire and emerald flames surrounding the golden figures of the female deities. Above each of their heads was a small triangle, gold and somehow tinged with their own colour. Beneath them was a phoenix, red and gold save for its tail feathers which were blue and green. Its wings were outstretched, it's talons wrapped around the purple hilt of a silver-blue sword, one which Billy recognised.

"Your sword is in the tapestry?"

"Yes…it was created to protect the Triforce….makes sense really."

"I suppose." Billy shrugged slightly.

"Now," Link started "You've shown us your hospitality over the past two days, so let us show you ours."

He called for a maid and instructed her to show them to the lounge where they could relax.

"Enjoy it while you have the chance, I imagine we won't have much luxury in a little while" he shouted after them.

Liam turned to his brother. "And now?" he raised an eyebrow

"We go see the King and Zelda….and then relax for the rest of the day…hopefully"

"Let's hope we get to relax." Liam commented as he and Link made for the throne room door

"Let's hope that we can save Hyrule."

* * *

As I said, some of you probably didn't like that. I apologise if you thought we were coming to the end. I have a plan. Again I apologise for the sudden change and please don't hesitate tolet me know what you think. 

To Sacharja (who probably really hates me now): I have a plan, and it'll, hopefully, mean more suspense in the next chapter, when I've finished typing it.

Anyway, please review or e-mail or anything.

Toodles waves


	15. Chapter 15

A.N: Ok. Again, thank you to all reviewees, and thank you to Sacharja for saying that you don't hate me ;) it means a lot to know someone does support my ideas.

* * *

Chapter 14

The King of Hyrule stared down at his son-in-law and his captain. Both were knelt before him wearing unusually rumpled clothes.

"So you didn't get the cure?" He asked staring down at Link in particular.

"No, sire." Link replied, lowering his head further at the king's irritated tone and speaking in a very humble form of Hylian, one that used to be used by commoners when they were deemed unfit to speak the same sort of language as a noble.

"You're the Hero of Time, Link….I expect you of all people to get what Hyrule's people need to survive."

"I apologise sire, we would have gotten the cure, but we were chased off the site before we had a chance to get Wesker to give it to us."

"It's not good enough."

"Yes, sire, and I fully intend to get the anti-virus within a few days…we just need a little time to plan, sire."

"Do you realise how bad it has gotten here within the past few days?"

"No, your highness"

"The people have almost no water, an ever decreasing amount of food, and a heat wave struck a few days ago. We are expecting it to return tomorrow…and Zelda is getting worse."

Link swallowed painfully at that, wondering just how bad his wife was.

"I'm not going to punish you Link….but I expect you to have the cure within a few days, so we can get Hyrule back to what it was… no matter what the cost. Now, go and see Zelda…she misses you."

"Yes, sire" Link dipped his head a little more, then turned and walked back out of the throne room, avoiding contact with anyone.

Liam remained knelt in front of the King, before being dismissed and quickly following Link.

"He's angry with you." Liam commented, as they walked up the stairs towards the bedrooms.

"Well, duh," Link rolled his eyes "What did you expect? I'm supposed to be a great hero and I can't even get a cure to a disease."

Liam put his hand on Link's shoulder. "You will get it….anyway, I'm going to get the maids to set up rooms for that lot, and then keep them company. Say hi to Zelda for me, K?"

Link nodded and Liam ran off to find a maid.

The blonde continued up the corridor they had turned onto, then came to the door of his and Zelda's room. He knocked on the door and pushed it open, looking around the room for Zelda, before spotting her, sitting at the vanity table, brushing her hair, humming to herself.

"Zelda?" he called quietly

She turned upon hearing her name, but instead of jumping up and running to him like she used to do when he'd been away before, she merely looked at him.

"Zel?" he asked again

"So you're back….did you get the cure?"

He hung his head as she stared at him with piercing ice blue eyes. "No."

"Then why are you here?" she hissed

"…because we need to plan, and see how bad the virus has gotten…and…"

"And?"

"I missed you."

"…really…well it's nice to know you care." she spat the words out sarcastically

"Zelda…what have I done? Why do you suddenly seem to hate me?"

She sniffed slightly instead of answering, and Link chanced taking a few steps towards her until he stood a few feet behind her.

"You let me down," She finally replied, and the cold façade started to slip "I thought that you would come back with the cure, and that we could go back to being happy."

Link breathed in deeply, letting the air out of his nose in a sort of sigh, before tentatively putting his hand on her slender shoulder and squeezing it slightly. She didn't shrug it off though. Instead she reached up and clasped his hand.

"There's no reason we can't be Zelda….just, it's taking a little more time than we originally thought. Things didn't go as planned, but I swear by the goddesses, Zelda, I will get it."

She sniffed again and nodded slightly, her pale hand tightening on his. He squatted down next to her and gently held her, his left arm wrapping around her waist.

"I know you will," She whispered "I missed you."

"I missed you too," He gently leaned forward and kissed her cheek "And everything's going to be alright."

Liam collapsed into one of the chairs in the 'relaxation room', and sighed contentedly, happy to be home, not wearing a sword and in clean, familiar clothes.

"So you're happy then." Billy commented, watching Liam as he breathed deeply

"What? I'm not allowed to be happy in my home?"

"With all that's going on…No!" Chris answered, watching as the nineteen year old straightened out in the chair, sitting up and opening his eyes.

"Gee thanks…anyway, today I'm going to relax, then we go out, see what state all of Hyrule is in and then form more plans."

"Is Zelda coming to greet us?" Maxi asked

"Possibly. Depends on whether she wants to be alone with Link or not."

"Ah…so it's going to be an hour or so at least?"

"No, it's not Maxi." A voice chided from the doorway.

All heads turned to the door to see who the speaker was.

A round stomached Princess Zelda stood in the doorway, wearing a loose lilac coloured dress, the sleeves stopping at her elbows.

She turned to Chris and co.

"I'm sorry for my sudden outburst, it's nice to see you again…but I'm afraid I haven't met your friend before." She gestured to Billy

"Oh," Chris turned to look at him "That's Billy."

"Nice to meet you." Billy greeted, dipping his head as he did so, looking her over when he raised his head again. Zelda responded in kind.

Link came in behind her, then slumped into a large chair, before being joined by Zelda.

"So…what're we doing for today then?" Claire asked, directing her question to their hosts.

"Today…I think we should just relax, maybe show you guys round the castle….we'll go out to see what's going on tomorrow, and hopefully come up with a plan." Link answered.

"Do you think it wise to wait a whole day?" asked Jill

"…well…there's no reason for us to hang around here, especially since it is early morning. But the people of Hyrule tend to think that if we haven't been seen for a few days, we've run away and aren't coming back, this way at least people know that we haven't abandoned them." Link explained

"So what'll we do?"

"For now, just be contented to sit back. Liam and I will show you all around the parts of the castle you didn't see last time, and then you'll have to see the king and talk to him at dinner, which will be in around three hours."

"We have to wait that long? Until you at least show us around." Claire objected

"Well…" Zelda started tipping her head slightly "You could always have a wander around the library….but the texts are mainly in Hylian so one of us would have to teach you."

"There are a fair amount of things to do around here. It's just that you've become so dependent on electricity, that you can't see them at first glance." Liam stated, straightening up in his chair

"Like?" Billy asked

"As Zelda said, she can teach you Hylian, or explain some of our cultures….festivals and such, you could just have a wander around on your own…and if you're really bored, you could come help Link and I with the horses." Liam sniggered slightly

"I'll come with you on that….I want to see Thara." Leon stated

"Anything else?" Chris asked

"We could teach you archery or swordplay, or just general things about the army once we're done."

The group split up 'til noon, to do various things about the castle. Once they had reached midday and they clustered into the dining hall, they spoke to the king, the Soul warriors not bothering much with conversation, apart from answering when asked a question.

The rest of the day following lunch was mainly spent like the first part, taking in various pieces of information, the cultures of Hyrule, day to day life, the fashion, the politics and the festivals and legends. The group was assembled in the library with Zelda, when Link walked in, having been talking to the guards with Liam, who had gone back to his room to rest.

Link walked into the garden of Hyrule castle, looking around at the bright summer time flowers, and sighed heavily. It was currently the middle of May, so everything was in full bloom, and suffering all the more for it because of a lack of water. The flowers were struggling to survive now, in May, the height of summer, and yet in just three or fourth months, they would be dying off at the approach of autumn.

He wandered over to the doors at the far end of this section of the garden, and pulled them open before walking up the stairs slowly, glancing at the clock up ahead to see what time it was.

8:30 pm, which meant he had about half an hour to get to the top of the stairs. Nevertheless, he quickened his pace, not wanting to miss what he wanted to see. He trotted up several more flights of steps, then slowed his pace again slightly to get his breath back.

It took a while longer but he finally reached his destination at the top of the stairs, and he slipped through the plain door, and out onto the balcony, where he leaned against the railing, catching his breath whilst he looked over all of Hyrule.

The balcony was situated almost as high up in Hyrule castle as you could go, save for the open air plan that was used to look up at the stars, and it provided a view of almost all of Hyrule.

At the moment Link could see all of the green rolling plains of Hyrule field, the cluster of trees that was the Kokiri forest, the softly golden sands of the Gerudo desert and out of the corner of his eye, he could just make out the slope of Death Mountain, and the red roofs of Kakariko village.

What he had come up here for though, was partly to see the sunset, but mainly, to get a view of Lake Hylia, to see if there was anything visibly wrong with it.

Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he leaned back slightly, stretching his back, neck and arms as the sun began to set.

Link leaned against the railing again, and looked up into the sky where it was starting to turn a dusty pink. He watched for a while longer as the pink gradually grew in intensity, then turned to yellow, then orange. It was as the point just above the horizon had turned blood red, its predecessors trailing behind it, that Liam joined him. He stared out at the view as he moved to stand beside Link, glancing up to where the sky was turning to a shade of violet, then back down to the horizon, where the distant mountains seemed to have been set ablaze.

"We were wondering where you were." Liam murmured quietly, his voice barely more than a slight tremor in the air next to Link's ear.

"Well, you and Zelda know best where to find me…I just wanted to see a familiar landscape from above." He replied, his voice matching Liam's in its quietness.

"From above?" Liam raised an eyebrow and turned his head slightly to glance at his friend, his hands resting on the cold railing.

"It reminds me." Link breathed, raising his head again. Liam followed his gaze and stared up into the sky with his brother, where the sky was the deepest shade of blue it could possibly be before it turned black. A few stars were dotted around, starting to peek out now that the light was thoroughly fading and even the crimson colour was seeping out of the sky, like the way blood ran from a wound.

"Of what?"

"Just after I saved Hyrule from Ganondorf, for the first time. When me and Zelda stood up there in the heavens and looked down on the land like we were both some form of deities. It was so amazing, and I felt so powerful, like I could do anything I wanted…It's hard for me to believe that was only a little more than two years ago. It seems like a century has passed since I had that feeling."

Liam didn't answer straight away, choosing instead to mull over what Link had said before answering.

"You haven't had anything to celebrate for about five months now, so it's unsurprising that you feel like that. There are things in life that will get you more than just that feeling you had when you first killed Ganon."

"Such as?"

"Didn't you feel better than that when you married Zelda? Or when you found out she was pregnant?...I'm not an expert on anything really Link, but I think that you'll get the best feeling you've ever experienced when your child is born."

Link suddenly turned and glared at Liam, his face set in a scowl.

"Liam, my child is going to be born a freak thanks to Wesker."

Liam didn't flinch as Link spat this out at him "Hope springs eternal Link. You and Zelda are the most powerful people on Hyrule, the people who know how to lead, to gain the goddesses favour, to make people think that there is always a light somewhere in the future. How can you instil so much hope in people, but have none yourself? You should know better than anyone that there is always hope, so long as there is life."

Link's expression softened slightly.

"Your child is a new life, and no matter what, that should bring hope to everyone. Life always finds a way Link, without mutation and science. Life finds a way, life is hope, and you bring hope to people. So find a way, Link."

He turned on his heel and walked back towards the door and glanced back at Link before leaving.

Link stood for a while longer, his eyes trailing over the stars in the sky as he thought about Liam's words. If he wanted to do as Liam said, to bring hope to Hyrule, his friends, family and himself, the he would have to do whatever it took to get it. It was something, he realised, that he was willing to do.

If he didn't try to save Hyrule, then there was no point in him living.

The Hylian gazed up for a moment more, picking out a constellation of a bird, a phoenix to be precise.

Smiling slightly, he went back inside, then took a route through the offices of the castle to reach the library. He lit a lamp quickly, and carried it over to a desk in a far dark corner, where people in the castle tended to brush up on subjects they were researching, then picked up another lamp and lit it.

Walking down the long aisles of books, he went straight to the back section that was restricted to Royal Family members and the Sages, and picked out several thick tomes written in ancient Hylian, looking for information on the Triforce, Goddesses and Magic, then walked back to the desk and dumped them on it. He slid down into the chair and pulled a piece of parchment and ink from the draw, setting them on the table, and began to read the book on top of the pile, quill in hand.

Zelda wandered along the corridors of the castle, pulling her dressing gown tighter around her as she paced through the corridors. It was six o'clock in the morning, and there had been no sign of Link since Liam last saw him at just after nine last night. She had spent the night alone but had been so tired due to the pregnancy and the emotional rollercoaster she had been on that she had fallen asleep as soon as she hit the bed. Now she was wondering just where her husband was.

He hadn't come up to the room last night, not and slept there anyway, because she had woken up still dressed and on top of the sheets. If Link had gone to the room, he would have done something about it.

She paused in the main hall of the castle, watching a few blurry eyed maids stumble past, having only woken up about quarter of an hour ago, and got up later than that. They nodded to her slightly as they passed, then made their way upstairs to clean the bathrooms and such before everyone else woke up.

Zelda walked to the 'relaxation room' as she was told to call it. Everyone else referred to it as a lounge, but a princess, who would become Queen in a decade's time or so, had to use the 'proper' language. She peeked inside quickly, but found it to be empty, and so she turned back, thinking about where he could be as she walked away from the room.

He wouldn't still be out on the balcony, Link was forgetful at times but even he would remember to come inside, and she had already checked the guest's bedrooms, Liam's and the spare. He wouldn't have gone out to attend to the horses yet either, despite his love for them.

As she walked along, she suddenly had an idea of where he might be, and doubled back, heading for the section just off the office area, the left wing of the castle, heading for the larger library.

When she reached it, she slowly pushed the heavy door open, and squinted slightly into the few patches of lingering darkness, before striding into the main area.

He wasn't there. But the library was extensive and had many nooks and crannies that were big enough to hide a person. She turned to the darkest area of the library, and, opening the shutters of the window nearest to it, could just make out the slim figure of a person.

She walked over to him, and smiled gently down at her husband, who was asleep in his seat, his head using a thick book with rough parchment sheets as a pillow, and gently pulled back a few strands of hair that were draped across his currently peaceful features.

Her attention was soon diverted though, by the collection of books on the desk, as she skimmed over the titles written in swirled Ancient Hylian characters and she frowned slightly. When Link ended up falling asleep at a desk, with a pile of books that weren't for pleasure reading, it usually meant he was trying to find an answer to something. The current predicament in this case, no doubt.

The books seemed to be mainly about the Goddesses and Triforce, which was no surprise really, but the books that dealt with subjects such as the Soul and Spirit were disconcerting, especially when she noted that the page that was lying open was on the purification or extraction of the soul.

Zelda skimmed across the page briefly, then looked at Link's left hand, holding a quill, and resting on a piece of parchment, covered in Link's hurried and very scrawled handwriting.

She gently pulled it out from underneath his hand and read it over.

It was a little weird, what was written.

At first, all it was was the idea that the Triforce actually held essence of the Gods, and some random lines of that, which was indecipherable to her. This was followed by something vaguely to do with the purification of the soul through means of a priest or monk. It seemed hard to do though, because from the looks of it, the priest had to be completely pure in the first place, to absorb evil into himself.

Link stirred slightly and Zelda glanced down at him before replacing the paper and then gently shaking him awake.

He opened his eyes slowly, and looked around the room, disorientated, before turning his head and seeing Zelda. He smiled at her gently before leaning back in his chair and stretching.

"Good Morning," she greeted, leaning down to kiss his cheek

"Morning," He replied "What time is it?"

"A little after six."

Link groaned and dropped his head, smacking his forehead into the dark wood. "Ow." He moaned.

He pushed his chair back and stumbled upright, grabbing the piece of paper and stuffing it into his crumpled tunic. Picking up the books, he returned them to their places before putting the ink and quill away.

"Do you mind if I head upstairs for a shower?"

She shook her head slightly and he smiled at her, walking for the door and waiting there for her. They walked up to the bedroom together and, closing the doors behind them with a quiet bang, went into the bathroom to shower together.

Liam yawned loudly and tossed over onto his right side, groaning at the loud crowing of the cucco that was sitting on the railing of his balcony.

He scowled at it slightly, cracking an eye open to do so, then glanced at the clock on the nightstand. From the bleary image his mind was giving him, it was just past seven o'clock.

Grumbling, he pushed the blankets back, and meandered into the bathroom, where there was a bath full of hot water, as he had requested the night before. He stripped off his clothes quickly and stepped into the tub, relaxing as the hot water soothed his body as soon as all but his head was submerged.

Liam sighed contentedly then looked towards the door at a quiet knocking. The person on the other side came in without waiting for a response. It was Link.

"Can you wait for an answer next time!" he flushed slightly, covering his lower body with his hands.

Link smirked slightly but otherwise gave no response.

"What do you want anyway?" Liam grumbled

"Oh, I was just told to tell you that breakfast will be served in a few minutes. It's half seven."

"Alright, alright." Liam pushed himself to the other end of the bath, then grabbed a towel, stood up and wrapped it around his waist, before stepping out onto a towel already laid on the floor. Grabbing another towel off the warming rail over the other side of the room, he dried himself off, pausing midway to ask Link;

"What?"

"Hmmm?" Link replied

"You're standing watching me…I know I'm incredibly sexy but please, my door doesn't swing that way."

Link snorted a laugh out in response before walking out of the bathroom and into the adjacent bedroom and waiting in there whilst Liam continued to dry himself off and get dressed.

He came out a few minutes later, his hair still damp and his clothes clinging to him in places where he hadn't dried off fully.

"Ready?" Link asked

Liam nodded and the two brothers began to walk downstairs towards the dining room to have breakfast. Once there they found that the others were assembled and waiting for them.

"Morning." Link greeted them, sliding into a chair next to Zelda, whilst Liam took the one opposite. The response to Link's greeting was made up with various 'Hello's or 'morning's from everyone, and all in varying tones of tiredness and boredom.

In fact, the only people who didn't look tired were Sheik, Impa, Kilik and Siegfried, and to be fair, they never looked tired.

For a few minutes the assembly exchanged various grumblings or comments whilst the food was brought in. Once they had finished, the dishes were taken away, and they moved into one of the meeting rooms.

"So what's the plan for today?" Chris asked, having finally woken up and taken note of the situation.

"We go out and assess Hyrule," Link answered "It'll probably take until about 1 o'clock, and that's if we don't encounter any problems."

"And after that?" Jill asked instead of Chris

Link turned his attention to her "We'll probably plan out what we're going to do, expound on theories etc."

Liam piped up for a moment "And now for a more important question…can any of you lot ride a horse?" he addressed the more modern group specifically, and avoiding Leon's gaze, as he already knew he could ride.

Claire nodded, along with a "sort of" from Billy. Chris and Jill shook their heads.

"Well you're going to have to learn," Zelda commented, smiling at them. She turned to Sheik after a moment "You're not to accompany them, Sheik. I want to discuss something with you." She stood up and walked towards the door, where she stopped and turned back to them "Have fun."

Link watched her go, then looked back at the group "Come on then, we better get started."

He made his way to the stables, the rest of the group following. Liam, Sheik and Leon moved to the horses they were used to straight away, Leon stroking Thara, his former horse, in greeting.

After a few minutes of saddling up their allocated horses, the group mounted the animals, Chris and Jill riding at the back of Billy and Claire, and then moved off onto Hyrule field.

It was about four hours later when the group pulled up onto Hyrule field again, having just come from the Gerudo Valley. They had encountered few problems, aside from seeing one or two mutants in each place, which they had been forced to destroy.

"So," Liam started, looking up at the hill ahead of them, over which was Hyrule castle "What do you think of Hyrule and our lovely selection of mutants?" His gaze darkened slightly

"Well you certainly have a problem, and from the look of the people around here, especially the Zoras, it needs to be solved, quickly." Leon stated, stopping his Palomino besides Liam's Chestnut horse, Epionia.

"Understatement." Link declared, wiping the blade of his sword with a piece of cloth. He had had to put down three Gerudos, two that had already mutated into the inside out creatures that were similar to what the Hylians turned into.

The third had been halfway through the mutations, and it had pained Link greatly to have to do that to her. The girl had been barely ten years old, terrified out of her mind over what was happening to her body, and screaming in agony as wave after wave of pain rippled over her body as she continued to mutate. What had hurt Link the most though, is that he had played with the little girl a few times when he had been at the valley, and she had still had enough conscience to know what was right and wrong, and to know that Link would have to kill her.

He involuntarily shuddered, attracting the attention of the rest of the group. He shook his head quickly.

"Come on, we should get back to the castle." He muttered, tapping Epona's sides so that she began to walk again.

They moved in silence, their horses trotting up the slope of the hill.

It was as they were coming down the other side and the land was beginning to flatten out a little, that Maxi noticed something moving in the distance, and it looked human.

"Link!" He called, and the Hylian turned back to look at him "There's someone over there!" he pointed over towards the indistinct figure that was moving slowly towards the castle.

"Doesn't look mutated," Link commented "And if they had been bitten or anything, they would either be stumbling, running or screaming for help."

"So what do you propose we do?" Chris asked

"We go over and check it out." Liam announced, drawing his sword.

They advanced quickly on the sole person, and as they did, the person's features became clearer, until they all knew exactly who they were looking out. Link blocked the person's path, and pointed the sword at the man's throat.

Chris had dismounted and was now striding towards the man, gun aimed at him. He finally stopped in front of him, then stood there for a moment, before growling out;

"What the hell do you want, Wesker?

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Ooooo, Tense-Momenty-Cliffhanger-thing. Tell me what you think should happen...I know what's gonna happen overall, but all thoughts and ideas are always appreciated.

Don't forget to review.


	16. Chapter 16

A.N: Ok, so due to the fact that my last version of chapter 15 sucked, I have re-written it. In all honesty, it's not that much different, just a bit of text here and there that I decided wasn't right. Chapter 16 should be up on time, but with all the coursework I'm having to do at the mo, I can't promise anything. On the other hand, I have a half term holiday starting Friday, which means I don't have to do homework immediately...

Anyway, on with the ever so slightly different chapter.

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Chapter 15

Wesker blinked slowly behind the dark lenses of his shades, then took a step back from Chris, the gun that was aimed at him, and the sword that was still extended towards him.

He was, by now, however, completely surrounded by the group, leaving him at their mercy, should they wish to fight. Though he could defend himself well enough usually, even against ten people or so, he was still a bit banged up from his fight with Aaron the day before yesterday, and he didn't think that fate was favouring him at the moment. That aside, it wasn't why he had come to Hyrule anyway.

"Well?" Chris asked, his thumb sliding upwards to take the safety off his gun. He swore that if Wesker made one wrong move, he would blow his brains out. It surprised Chris that he hadn't already done so.

"Why are you here?" Chris demanded again.

Wesker sighed very slightly, hating himself for what he was about to do, but knowing that, unless circumstances changed in the next few moments, he didn't have a choice.

Finally he answered.

"I'm not here to fight, or to put you in danger, if that's what you're thinking, Chris." He drew the words out slowly, careful to keep any hint of insincerity or waver out of his voice that would make them think otherwise. "You need not have your weapons drawn, I'm not going to try anything, or I wouldn't be here alone. And in case you hadn't noticed, I'm surrounded, and have weapons pointed at me from every angle, how I'm I going to hurt anyone, without being shot or having my throat slashed?"

"Am I supposed to believe you don't want to hurt us? You did it once, what stops you from doing it again?"

"Circumstance."

"What circumstance could possibly stop you from wanting to inflict pain upon us?" Claire spat out.

"The one we're currently in. Suffice to say that things haven't gone to plan. Aaron is out of control, and mutating most probably."

"And that brings you here because…?" Chris queried, eyes narrowing.

"….Because, I need to stop him from destroying everything I have worked for. And I can't do it alone."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Wesker rolled his eyes. Apparently, Chris was either serious in not understanding what he was saying, or he was just trying to draw the agony out for him. Both seemed likely.

"I am here, because I want…" Wesker stopped and started again "I am requesting an alliance with you, for the moment at least."

Chris raised an eyebrow sceptically, whilst all around him, everyone else sat in a stunned silence, over the sudden appearance and then, the request of this supposedly, evil, untrustworthy, solitary man.

"You want to join forces with us?"

"Haven't I already said that?"

"Why? Why do you want us to help?"

"Because that bastard of a BOW Aaron, has disappeared which means that I can't monitor him, or the virus he's spreading, or the contaminates anywhere else, either. He'll destroy my work, and the races of the worlds. Whilst I don't particularly care about the latter, I would hate to see Aaron having control of every being in existence."

Link watched as Chris continued to glare at Wesker, showing no hint of co-operating. Realising that having Wesker on their side would be a huge advantage, however, Link turned to Wesker.

"Just how much would you hate to see Aaron controlling everything?" he tilted his head slightly as he voiced the question

"I would be willing to do most things. So long as Aaron doesn't control them, I don't care."

Link glanced down at Chris, then slid off his horse and dropped to the ground beside him.

"Chris…can I have a word?" Link asked, flinching his head away to outside the circle.

Chris turned to look at him for a moment, glanced back to Wesker and then grudgingly nodded.

"What?" Chris demanded in a hushed tone.

"You're going to hate me for this..."

"We're NOT joining forces with him! He's killed loads of people Link. Do you realise just how much damage Wesker could inflict upon us! How good an actor he is?"

"The facts are irrelevant for the moment."

"What! You can't seriously be considering joining with him."

"No. I'm considering letting him join us."

"Don't fuck around Link. This man is untrustworthy and a total bastard. He's a soldier, a murderer and a sociopath, among other things."

"Chris." Link hissed, and it came through harsh and commanding, forcing Chris to listen to him "What is my priority here? To thoroughly analyse and use various words to describe Wesker's character? Or to find a way to get the cure to this virus, and save Hyrule?"

Chris didn't answer.

"I don't give a flying fuck as to what he's done in the past. All that matters is here and now and how to cure the virus. Your grudges don't feature in this equation."

"But…"

"Chris. You have a choice now, but whether Wesker joins us or not isn't it. It's mine. As the Hero of Time and defender of the Hylian people, my decision is to allow Wesker to join us, so long as he cures the virus. The only choice you have is whether to stay and help with this problem, or whether to go home and sulk."

"And my priority is to avenge my comrades!"

"What good is killing Wesker now, and destroying all hope of curing this? Your comrades may need to be avenged, and it may matter to you, but not to me. At present Chris, only the living count, you have no say now. So decide what you're going to do and execute that plan. Just don't interfere."

Link turned sharply, and walked back into the circle, where Wesker was calmly passing a knife from hand to hand. Chris stood dumbfounded outside the circle, then glared at the top of Link's head.

"You've come to a decision then? Why you had to consult Officer Redfield is beyond me. This is your country, not his."

"Our discussion was irrelevant to you. Don't change the subject. You heard what we said?"

"I didn't actually." He made a motion with his hand, flicking the blade out of sight as he did so.

"Perhaps we're on the path to recovery. This meeting would certainly represent that." Link muttered in Hylian.

Wesker cleared his throat. "Your decision?"

"That depends on what you'll do for us."

"What do you wish? I have only my skills to offer you."

"I think you have a little more than that." Link answered "Here's the deal. We'll let you join us..." Wesker raised an eyebrow at this "On a certain condition."

"Name your price."

"You cure everyone in Hyrule and the other world that can be saved, and you stop any more infections from occurring."

"Does that include the Triforce and sword?"

"Yes. All traces of the virus must be wiped out from these worlds."

Wesker exhaled quietly. "Your Triforce may be hard to cure. It's a solid object, therefore it may not be possible."

"I have a back up plan for that. As long as you cure everything else. The Sages can create a seal to stop any of the infection leaking out, for a while at least."

Wesker hesitated for a moment before sealing the deal. Curing the virus here could make an immunity to it so that it wouldn't affect these people again. On the other hand however, he, in all honesty, would rather cure everything, and not infect it again, so long as Aaron couldn't control it.

He eventually offered his right hand.

"Very well. You have a deal. I'll cure the virus in return for your help to stop Aaron."

Link grudgingly took Wesker's outstretched hand and then shook on the deal, surprised by just how strong his grip was, but realizing that he was probably holding back a lot of his strength to avoid crushing the slender bones in his hand.

"I suppose you'll be looking for a place to stay whilst you're curing the virus?" Liam asked, still mounted on his horse.

Wesker inclined his head slightly.

"Could be a problem," Link mused "I'm fairly certain that the king won't let you stay in the castle, not at night at least. He'll be too scared for Zelda. The villagers can't take you in, nor would you want to stay with them, and the inns are closed."

Liam raised his head "…Isn't Impa's house empty?"

"…Yes. But would Impa let him stay there?"

"I think that she probably would, providing we keep him well away from Zelda."

Wesker suddenly cleared his throat "I would appreciate it if you didn't talk as if I weren't here. But besides that, if it's such a problem, you needn't find shelter for me. I'm fully rested and as such, I won't need to sleep for several days if necessary."

"And what do you plan to do whilst we're asleep?" Chris asked, glaring at Wesker

"Take a look around the land."

"No." Link stated "I don't trust you enough to let you do that. Letting you sneak around unsupervised is a bad idea."

"Then you need to come up with a plan to keep me from sneaking away, don't you?" Wesker sneered slightly.

"It's still early afternoon, Link," Liam supplied "We have the rest of the day to decide what to do. In the meantime, we should return to the castle, to inform the King about our new…" he eyed Wesker for a moment "...ally."

Link nodded and muttered "Come on." To the group as he mounted Epona. As they started to move slowly back towards the castle, Wesker took a few long strides to draw level with Link. The entire group, save for Wesker was mounted on horseback, and though the horses were only walking at a slow pace, it was fast enough that a normal human being would have to trot to keep up.

Wesker however, didn't appear to need to. His stride, whilst lengthened slightly, was still as unhurried as the horses'.

Link had to admire that the man didn't have to hurry.

A silence settled itself over the group for a few minutes whilst they adjusted to having an enemy walking alongside them. Gradually though, they overcame the feeling, and a quiet murmur from Maxi to Yunsung, that caused the redhead to snigger broke everyone's tension, and a conversation between the group was started.

Wesker walked calmly by the head of Link's horse, and listened to how the people alongside him coped with the strange situation. The comment Maxi had made hadn't been directed towards Wesker exactly, but he had the vague idea it held a faint insult. He ignored it and continued to keep his stride lengthened enough to keep up with the horse.

The rhythm of his walking provided a pace to think at, and he found himself wondering just how he could get back at Aaron, and then, what he would do after that. He actually found the idea of trying to infect the people of this world mildly repugnant for some reason.

'_I'm going soft.'_

He was so deep in his thoughts, that it surprised him to the point of almost jumping, when Link shouted up to the guards at the drawbridge. Link also seemed to have noticed that Wesker had come back to reality.

"What do you intend to do after this is over?" he asked

"I hardly think that that's any of your concern." Wesker bit out quietly

"Don't you think it is, when it could involve you infecting the people of Hyrule again?"

"….That yes. But considering that I don't think I'll bother with this world again, I don't think it's any of your business."

Link shot a glare down at Wesker, whose head was level with his knee, and had the sudden desire to kick Wesker, and shut him up. He ignored it however, and kicked Epona lightly, into moving over the now lowered drawbridge instead.

Wesker snorted inwardly at the Hylian's reaction to his comments, but it was truly what he believed. It was also amusing to him to see the anger that passed over Link's dark blue eyes at it, and the slight desire to hurt him that had been present. That was a joke in itself, no matter how good Link was, he would never be able to beat him.

As they walked through the centre of the market, Wesker glanced around at his surroundings, noting the lack of people. When he had first surveyed this place it had been cheerful and full of life, now it was as dead as Raccoon City after the nuclear bomb had hit it.

He looked up suddenly as a shadow settled itself over him and saw the castle looming up ahead, and the guards looking at him surreptitiously. His shoulders tensed instantly, his muscles turning almost solid beneath his skin. He wasn't actually scared of the soldiers; it was merely his tyrannical nature that was causing it, the instinct that wild animals have to be on guard the moment a human appeared.

The gates were opened to the group without question, though the eyes of the guards lingered on him, and he heard them talking to each other, long after they had passed, making comments that every time Link came back to the castle, someone new was with him.

They finally came to the inner walls of the castle, and the group dismounted, the horses being led away by sober faced stable boys.

Walking into the castle, Link turned to Wesker. "I'll take you to the King, and we'll sort out what's going to happen." He glanced to the rest of the group "Relax for now."

He turned away from them and walked up the long hallway, Wesker following behind him, glancing at the tapestries.

Link stopped again when they reached the door. "Wait here, until I call you in. The king may not be happy to know you're here." He opened the door and slid inside, leaving Wesker out in the hall.

Wesker looked around the immediate surroundings, then turned his attention to the voices from inside what he assumed to be the throne room.

"…Is that so?" the voice definitely wasn't Link's. It was deeper, rougher and used to commanding. He guessed it was the king "Did you agree?"

There was a quiet response from Link.

"Will he cure her?"

Again, a quiet response followed.

"Bring him in. I'm curious to meet a man who can claim to be human, and yet engage in this type of tyranny."

Wesker smirked to himself slightly, before composing his face into an unreadable mask, and stepping into the room when called.

Mindful of the image that he gave to the King, Wesker walked as he normally did, with long, graceful strides, conveying his power, before kneeling in front of the King.

"Mr.Wesker. It certainly is a…pleasure, to meet a man as esteemed as you."

"Please your Majesty. The pleasure is all mine. It is an honour to meet a good a ruler as you. I have seen many a leader said to be strong, crumble under these circumstances."

He heard a 'Humph' come from the Hylian King, before he said "Stand up and be at ease Mr.Wesker. I would not have someone as important as you kneel before me, when we are in this situation."

Wesker straightened and stood up, sweeping his gaze over the King. The man ahead of him, though conveying power like Wesker himself, still held a kindness, which was probably what made the people love him. He was also angered at having the man who had infected his beloved country, standing in front of him, that much, Wesker could see.

"I won't waste time on pleasantries any longer." The monarch continued "Link has informed me that you have agreed to heal the people of Hyrule, including my daughter. If this is true, then I would prefer it if you would stay in the castle, heal the people as quickly as possible and then leave." There was a strong edge on the word _leave_, as if he wanted him to go now, but knew he couldn't risk it.

"That is all I intended to do. I don't want to impose on you any more than I must."

"Good. Then Link will find you a room for the night. As for Zelda, she's in the library. I ask you to tend to her as quickly as is possible, and then to the people." Harkinian turned his attention to Link "As soon as Zelda is cured, have the Sages put a seal around the Triforce, and maintain it for a few days until Mr.Wesker is sure that the illness had passed. You must also find a way to purify the Triforce."

"I believe I already have, sire. It is merely a matter of whether the person, who is needed to perform it, will."

"Very well. Go on then and do what you must." He dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

The two blondes walked out without speaking.

"I take it you want me to heal your child then." Wesker queried

"If you would."

"It is part of out deal."

They moved towards the library, saying little to each other.

"How are you going to cure this?" Link asked after sometime.

"An injection. Your wife isn't infected, the child is. All that has to be done is injecting the child with the anti-gen."

"That's going to hurt her," Link frowned

"Only for a moment, it'll take less than a minute for the whole process to take place. You'll be there to comfort her as well, I assume. As long as you keep her calm, it shouldn't cause too much distress."

"Have you ever tried to keep a pregnant woman calm?"

"No. I imagine it won't be easy, but you should be able to do it."

Link rolled his eyes as he reached the library door, and knocked on it before walking in. It was deserted, save for Zelda, stretched out in a chair, dozing, a book resting on her rounded stomach.

He walked up to her quietly before Wesker murmured "You best take her upstairs, to your bedroom so that she can rest after the injection."

Link merely shook Zelda awake. She blinked once or twice, then smiled at him.

"Hi Link."

"Hey honey. I have some news."

"Oh?"

"We have the cure for the virus."

"Really! Then we can heal the child! Oh, Link we must do it right away. You've brought back my hope!" she beamed at him

"We're going to have to move upstairs, so that the baby can be cured and then you can rest."

She nodded and stood up. It was only then that she noticed Wesker.

"Link…who is this?"

Link sidestepped the question, answering vaguely "This is the man that's going to cure you…he's…a doctor."

She eyed Wesker for a moment, then allowed herself to be ushered to her and Link's room. Once there, she settled herself onto the bed, and Link called for Impa, to help keep Zelda calm.

"Before you do this," Zelda asked as she lay down on the bed, Link using his body to block her view of what Wesker was doing, which was preparing a needle (a big one, I might add) "what's your name?"

Wesker didn't answer only glanced to Link who answered for him "We'll tell you afterwards, it's not important right now. Just relax, this might hurt a little."

She nodded and settled back fully, allowing Impa and Link to block her view of what was going on.

A few minutes later, she realized why they were blocking her view, when she felt a strong, sharp pain in her stomach as the needle sank into her womb.

Zelda whimpered a little, clutching Link's hand as he tried to soothe her, as she started to struggle against the pain.

The pain diminished a few minutes after, that and she felt the needle being drawn out of her. It was the last thing she consciously felt, for the injection had somehow made her tired, and she slipped into a quiet sleep, without ever realizing what was going on.

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Review please. Or my bunnies will live in an eternal hutch of dooommmmmm...


	17. Chapter 17

A.N: I DID IT! I got this chapter up in time (barely) and I'm on holiday. Wooo! There is a God.

Anyway, don't forget to review and thank you to the people who faithfully continue to be masochists by reading and reviewing.

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Chapter 16

Zelda blinked a couple of times when a bright light hit her face, streaming in between the partly closed shutters that led out to the balcony. She glanced around as her vision cleared, noticing that she was lying in her and Link's bed, underneath the covers. Link didn't appear to be nearby, but it looked to be after 10 o'clock in the morning anyway, and even if he hadn't wanted to get up, Liam probably would've dragged him out of bed about 8:30.

Groaning slightly, Zelda pushed herself up, so that her back was resting against the headboard. There was a strange feeling in her stomach and it took her a second to remember what had happened the night before. However, despite the fact that yesterday she had been in pain from the needle, there was none now. Neither was there any of the headaches, or sickness or general weariness that the pregnancy had exacted upon her body. In fact, she felt great. So great in fact that she suddenly became worried incase the child had died and she was no longer pregnant, but a glance downwards discounted her worries when she saw the swell of her stomach.

Smiling, she pushed back the covers and got out of bed, walking to the bathroom to take a shower.

Wesker glanced down at the sight below him, and rolled his eyes at the scene. He was sitting on one of the high walls that encased Hyrule castle, watching a group of guards who were in the middle of a break, and were sparring in the training ground for fun. There was a group of about ten of them, who had just entered the grounds, whereas another group of ten had just left.

What he had rolled his eyes at though, was their complete idiocy at not realizing he was there and watching them like a hawk. If he had wanted to pose a threat, he could have merely leaped from his perch, and slaughtered them in an instant, crushing them like bugs beneath his feet. The thought had actually crossed the Tyrants mind. He hadn't engaged in killing someone for pure fun in a few months now. He had been so wrapped up in work, perfecting his virus, that he hadn't thought about anything but that.

His thoughts, as he watched the guard execute a few easy moves (even for them), turned to Aaron. He wondered briefly why he had even created the BOW at all, as he had proved to be nothing but a handful most of the time. If he looked at it rationally, Aaron had been created to do grunt work, and infect the people he came into contact with. Basically, to be a glorified version of his Hunters, which he had moved to another warehouse in order to avoid them being killed by Aaron.

However, if he thought about it properly, if he looked deep into the reason why, he realized that it was far more personal.

He had created him to do the work, yes…but he had also created him for well, companionship. Humans were scared of Wesker, and he couldn't blame them, even he was slightly daunted by the sight of a fully mutated Tyrant when he had first seen one, as a human. It wasn't even that Wesker _wanted _companionship really…it was more like he wanted to understand why people needed company. Wanted to understand why people, especially William Birkin, want or had wanted a child too. Aaron was the closest thing that Wesker would ever have to a child; he couldn't actually sire one himself, even if he wanted to. He just wanted to understand why the T-Virus running through his veins, made him further distanced from other humanoids.

Perhaps it was because the instinct for companionship was more like a herding instinct, because there was strength in numbers and it made most creatures feel safe. Wesker though, was all power, and therefore had nothing to fear and so, didn't need to be around other life forms…especially ones that were lower than him.

Wesker was pulled out of his thoughts by a shout from the training yard.

One of the guards, who had been sparring, had finally noticed him.

"You there!" he yelled up to him, and Wesker merely raised an eyebrow, which the guards couldn't see, and turned his face towards them.

"You don't have permission to be in Hyrule Castle! Return home immediately, or we will force you to!"

Wesker watched them for a moment, then threw back his head and barked out a harsh laugh at them, before rising to his feet, and jumping of the wall, to the training ground, hitting the floor with a soft thud. Standing up again from his crouching position, he smirked as the guards stared at him, awed by the fact he had survived the drop.

"Excuse me." The blonde started, putting a harsh coldness into his words "But I have permission to be in Hyrule Castle, from the King and Link. I have business here, which I haven't yet fulfilled, so I'm staying. As for you forcing me out of the castle, you couldn't even if you had permission to you."

One of the guards, an obvious leader, stepped forwards, growling at Wesker.

"How dare you insult guards of the Royal Family! We have been chosen by Captain Dalher himself, brother to Link. No-one has ever got past us, and every civilian has obeyed our orders." The guard looked smug for a moment.

"Well, I apologize for being about to burst your bubble, but I've been sitting on that wall, watching you since you came in. You do realize that in the ten minutes you've been out here, I could have got into the castle, murdered your King and got out again, without you ever realizing? I am no civilian, Hylian or American, Elf or Human."

"We shall see about that. Draw a weapon and fight me, then we'll see who the civilian is. What's your name, felon?"

Wesker grinned slightly before he answered, looking down as he pulled a combat knife out from underneath the full length black leather coat he was wearing, and muttered; "My name is Commander Wesker."

"Well then _Commander,_" The guard hissed sarcastically "Let us fight."

The guard started to pace around Wesker in a circle, twirling the sword in his hand, trying to show off to him, trying to entice him into attacking.

"It won't work you know." He commented

"What?"

"That." The Tyrant stated, gesturing to the soldiers hand.

The man glanced down at his hand, and as he did, Wesker took advantage of his distraction and attacked, hitting the guard in the midriff, with the handle of the small knife, knocking the man to the floor.

The guard gasped at the attack, and struggled on the floor for a moment trying to get up as Wesker, slowly walked towards him.

He just managed to as Wesker moved to slam his fist into the guard's stomach. He missed, and his hand plunged into the ground, enough force behind his punch to push through the layers of sand that made up the floor. The guard turned around and watched as his enemy pulled his gloved fist out of the ground, noticing that his knuckles were smeared with mud that was hidden five inches under the sand.

"What in the name of…." He whispered

Wesker turned back to him and grinned at the look of uncertainty on the man's face, which had replaced the smug smile.

The guard backed off a little, then attacked Wesker, taking the offensive route and trying to knock his enemy to the floor, to pin him there and wrestle him into submission. However, Wesker just stood there, hands behind his back as the guard rushed towards him, balling his hand into a fist, and throwing the punch into Wesker's stomach.

Instead of his hand sinking into the soft flesh of his opponent's stomach though, it met with a solid wall of muscle, and his arm bent at the elbow, crumpling from blow into the steel-like stomach.

Taking advantage (again) of the guard's distraction, Wesker grabbed him by the wrist, holding it firmly in his left hand, then grabbed the other holding the now struggling soldier in a vice like grip. The man panicked slightly when he felt Wesker's grip tighten further and he began to rub his forefinger and thumb against the bones in his wrist.

Wesker smirked slightly as beads of sweat began to build on the soldiers' forehead as he sank to his knees, Wesker still grinding the fragile bones together. Deciding to end the 'fight', fun as it was, Wesker turned his hips slightly and kicked the man in the chest, hard enough that had he not been restrained, he would have been slammed into the wall behind him, where Wesker had formerly been perched. However, Wesker still had hold of the man's wrists, held him in place as his body shunted backwards from the force of the kick, his arms still out, straight, ripped from their shoulder sockets.

Dropping the limp arms, Wesker turned and looked back at the guard's comrades.

"Anyone else want a go?"

The guards looked to the man lying on the floor, whimpering, and shook their heads, backing away from Wesker.

"Good. As for his injuries, I think you'll find that he may have a few broken ribs, and both of his shoulders are dislocated. Oh…and that might be a good thing for you to learn if you ever have an enemy in your grasp and you don't want to kill them."

The guards simply stared at him, and so he moved to stand by the door, watching as the guards scurried over to the fallen man and gathered him up in their arms, to carry him down to the medical wing.

It was as Wesker was reaching for the door to the changing rooms, to go back into the castle, that the door flew open anyway. The person came through the door quickly and looked down at the soldier in the others' arms. He turned around and glared at Wesker, still propped up against the wall.

It was Link.

"What have you done?" he kept his voice calm as he saw the guards walk through the door, through the corner of his eye.

"I merely taught one of your guards a lesson in humility."

"Did you have to teach it to him so well? We already need every guard we've got to check on the people, be on watch and be ready to fight a mutant off at anytime. Hyrule can't afford to loose a soldier because you thought you'd have some fun!"

"He's not dead though. He has some broken or cracked ribs, and dislocated shoulders, he should be back to being able to serve by tomorrow morning."

"Doesn't make it any better!"

"Why are you here, anyway?"

"Do I not have the right to walk around my own home?" Link spat.

Wesker shrugged "Fair point…what were you coming here for though?"

Link sighed "I was coming to train. I haven't really had a chance yet."

"May I watch?"

"Depends if you're going to comment on me and distract me all the way through the session."

"If I don't, may I?"

"I suppose."

Link walked into the middle of the training area, unbuckling is belt and baldric, pulling his tunic and shirt off, but leaving his gauntlets on. He pulled the Master sword and Mirror shield from the pile of clothes, then pushed them out of the square with his foot.

Wesker studied Link as he settled into position, his eyes running over the younger man's torso, with a detached eye, like a doctor examining a patient. He continued his studying throughout Link's session, watching every graceful movement, trying to see strengths and weaknesses as he flowed from one attack to the other, kicking out with his foot, then executing a back flip before putting both hands on the hilt of the sword and swinging it downwards in a move that could split a person in half.

Link crouched on the floor for a moment, aware that Wesker was watching him intently, with his hand flung out behind him, gripping the handle of the Master Sword so tightly, that his knuckles were turning white. Holding the position for a few seconds more, Link jumped straight up into the air, a burst of blue and red flame sprouting from the blade, as he spun round in the air, once, twice, three times, before he dropped back to earth, landing in a crouch just in front of Wesker.

Wesker stood completely still and stared at the boy who was crouched in front of him, breathing deeply to recover, and let his gaze drift down to the sword in his hand. He had never, in the 45 years of his life seen anything like that, even in the 27 years he had worked for Umbrella and HCF.

Link straightened up and looked over at the stunned German derived man, and flashed a smirk to him quickly.

"Impressed?" he asked, placing the blade on the floor to allow it to cool. As he went back over to his tunic, picking up a towel to wipe the sweat off himself with, he saw Wesker walk over to the blade and letting his now ungloved hand hover over it, feeling the heat that emanated from the bluish metal.

"A little, I will admit." He finally answered.

"Mmm hmm, well, I have things to do and…that includes checking on Zelda," he pulled his clothes back on again, fastening the belt and baldric over his clothes. "I assume that you will need to check on her too."

"I will, though I doubt that it is necessary."

Link nodded and walked back into the castle, Wesker catching up to him in a few long strides.

Liam lounged in a chair in the 'recreational' room, watching Maxi and Yunsung arguing over who won a game of mahjongg that they'd been playing. Maxi, as the Japanese player, insisted he'd won because he had been playing the game since he was five. Yunsung was currently giving up on the 'I win everything' stance and had been degraded to;

"Well, it's a stupid game anyway." He stuck his nose into the air, arms crossed over his chest. Maxi mirrored the pose for a moment, before bending down and flicking one of the ivory tiles towards the Korean. It hit him in the face.

Liam turned his head away and grinned as Yunsung tackled Maxi pinning him to the floor, and struggling with the pirate. Everyone else in the room, save for those two, were utterly bored out of their minds.

Siegfried and Kilik had been watching Yunsung and Maxi with half interest, but were now throwing each other glances that consisted mainly of eye rolling. Raphael was sitting in a chair at the other side of the room, checking his nails.

Leon, Billy and Chris were sitting in a circle and staring at the space between them, whilst the girls, Claire and Jill, lay on their stomachs, Jill filing her nails, Claire messing around with the band that had been in her hair.

"So…when are we going to this other world?" Chris asked Liam, having finally given up with trying to make a bald patch in the carpet by staring at it.

"As soon as Link has checked on Zelda, and is sure she's OK, he won't leave if she's ill."

"If she hasn't woken up yet, it could be ages," Chris murmured "Wesker may not even have cured her…just pretended to." His eyes narrowed slightly

"It's a possibility but….it's not like we had a choice anyway." Liam answered, sitting upright in his chair to face Chris directly.

Chris shrugged a shoulder, not having anything else to reply with.

The group fell back into their sullen, board silence, even Maxi and Yunsung having given up their fight…but that was more because they had both gotten into positions that made it impossible to move. Liam raised an eyebrow at them and, having nothing better to do, started to stand up to go and untangle them from each other. As he stood up, the door opened, and Zelda stepped through.

"Good Morning," she greeted, actually smiling.

"Barely," Liam replied

"Well don't you all look like bundles of joy." She commented sarcastically, looking around at the bored faces in the room, before settling it on Maxi and Yunsung. "You know what; I'm not even going to ask."

She walked over to one of the empty chairs in the room, and sat down in it, curling her legs underneath her.

"You're in a good mood today." Leon observed, looking over at her.

"Why shouldn't I be? My headache and backache are gone, I don't feel sick and…I think that the baby is actually cured…I can't feel any evil presence nearby anymore…" she trailed off and frowned

"What?" Liam asked, his hand on Maxi's ankle which he was trying to pull out from underneath Yunsung's back. "What's wrong?"

"Well...that's not true. I can feel an evil presence, just not a very strong one…but it's definitely in the castle."

Liam looked over to Chris, who nodded slightly. "Uh, there's good reason for that." Liam answered, grunting as he finally freed Maxi's leg.

"Oh? What is it?"

"Wesker's in the castle." Chris told her, looking disgruntled as he did so.

"What! Why?"

"Because," Liam panted as he grabbed Yunsung's arm "Wesker…is the one who cured the baby."

"…I don't suppose Wesker is tall, blonde, very pale and handsome, is he? And dresses all in black."

"That's him." Billy muttered, standing up to help out Liam

"That's why Link didn't tell me who he was." She mused.

A few seconds later, the door opened again to reveal Link. A few stands of hair were stuck to his forehead with what was probably sweat.

"You're up. I wasn't expecting it so soon, but…I'm glad for it anyway." He smiled gently at her.

She smiled back then asked "Uhh…where's Wesker?"

"So they told you, huh?...He's outside the door, said something about not wanting to create a tense atmosphere for us."

"How considerate of him." Chris growled

There was an 'oomph' sound following that sentence as Liam and Billy finally got the two oriental men untangled from each other.

Link turned to Chris "We need to go to the Soul Warrior world to see if Wesker can cure the virus…we leave in two hours."

It was 12:30pm when the group was setting out to leave Hyrule castle, having eaten a quick lunch and saddled up the horses.

They made their way out of the town and across the field at a fast pace, the horses performing a quick canter, Wesker jogging alongside to keep up with them.

As slowed as they reached the portal to the Soul world, and stopped momentarily to glance around to see if anyone was watching. When the coast was declared clear, they slipped into the portal quickly. Link, Maxi, and Siegfried in front, followed by Yunsung, Kilik and Liam. Wesker brought up the rear at the back of all Chris's group.

As soon as they were all through, Link moved on again, not letting them spend anytime looking around, and he pushed Epona into a gallop, partly wanting to get to Ostreheinsburg and partly wanting to see just how fast Wesker could go. He kept up with them however, having to sprint a little, but still managing it, and with that pace kept constant, they reached the village within an hour.

Siegfried pulled on Nightmare's reins slightly as they approached the gate, slowing him down, the rest of the group following suit.

"What is it?" Link asked quietly, looking across at him

"I just want to see if there are any of those creatures nearby…but I can't hear any."

"There are some here," Wesker murmured, feeling the presence of something else infected with a virus nearby "There are about three, maybe four, over there," he gestured to the far side of the village "and maybe one at the base of that hill…but no others."

"Oh there just has to be one in our path, doesn't there?" Link muttered angrily

"How do you know they're there?" Maxi asked, moving over to where Wesker was standing

"The virus in my blood. It let's me sense the presence of other creatures that are infected with any sort of genetic virus, be it T, T-Veronica, G or, in this case, the Anodyne."

"Are there a lot of these viruses then?"

"Only the one's I've just mentioned…and not a lot of them exist anymore…only the T and the Anodyne to my knowledge. The T-virus only exists through me, and the few Hunters I have. There is only one other humanoid Tyrant that I know of and I haven't seen her for a while."

The group started walking through the village, most of them dismounting, all drawing their weapons, apart from Wesker and Maxi.

"Who is she?"

"The girl? Her name is Sherry Birkin, the daughter of William Birkin who created the G-Virus. I worked with him on the T-Virus for about eight years. Didn't see him much after that though….Why this is any of your concern though, I don't see."

"Just curious," Maxi answered

The group slowly walked towards the base of the hill that the cathedral was on, largely ignoring a few conversations between Maxi and Wesker and an occasionally outburst from Claire, and instead focusing on keeping an eye out for monsters.

Billy glanced at the walls as he walked. White stucco walls sprayed with dried brown or black blood. The damage these things caused was amazing.

He stopped rather abruptly when he walked into the back of Chris's horse, which turned back to look at him, and he noticed that the group had stopped.

Wesker was standing at the head of them, his hand held up, his head tilted to the side slightly as he listened for the nearby monster.

"It's down that alley," he hissed out quietly pointing to a dark street littered with bodies "If you're quiet, you shouldn't alert it."

Chris through a disgruntled look to Link as Wesker 'took control' of the situation, to which Link replied with a stony glare that simply said 'Get on with it'.

Link slinked across the open space and up the side of the hill, Jill and Claire in tow. Siegfried, dressed in armour, took a different route, sneaking through a back alley to avoid making noise that would attract unwanted attention.

When the group had finally re-assembled on the slope of the hill, Maxi sprinted up ahead with Kilik, both eager to see Xianghua again. Siegfried heard a few surprised shouts from the dilapidated cathedral, which turned quickly into low murmurs of greeting, and he glanced behind him to the village, noting that a few of the monsters may have picked up on the noise. Currently, they had turned their heads towards the hill. Wesker had noticed too.

"Keep going; explain the situation before I get up there so this can be done as quickly as possible. I'll keep an eye on them."

"Just one thing," Yunsung asked, drawing up beside Wesker, having taken the rear, as Siegfried continued up the hill and disappeared into the cathedral.

"Mmm," Wesker turned his head to the youth "What?"

"If those mutants were shall I say, disinfected, will they turn back to humans?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"When the virus takes control of the body, it mutates every cell in the hosts' body. The anti virus destroys all those mutated cells. It can be used as a vaccine in the stages of early infection, but for someone whose completely infected it means death, after all that's all they're composed of, mutated cells."

"Oh…" Yunsung shrugged "Can't be helped." With that he turned and dashed up the hill.

Wesker stood on a rock embedded into the hill side, pushing his sunglasses to the top of his head as he watched the creatures and listened to the conversation.

"So he can cure it?" Talim asked as she at sat cross legged in front of Link. He nodded down at her.

"Why is he helping though?" Mina asked "If he can create it, if he wanted to create it, why destroy it?"

"Long story, involving a bigger tyrannical freak than Wesker." Chris answered, peering down into the abyss of the pit where Soul Edge was. Siegfried had already climbed down there, which was why Kilik and Leon were slowly feeding more rope down, and Chris was shining his torch beam down there, as well as Claire and Jill. Billy had gone down too, as was a few metres down the pit, where he'd found a ledge, and was also shedding some light on what Siegfried was doing.

"Can we go over this after we've saved the world?" Yunsung asked, looking back at Mina. "I mean it'll make for a great story when I regale you and your father with it when we're back at the dojo." He grinned like a child and winked at Mina.

At the moment, he was standing on a half destroyed pillar, keeping an eye on Wesker, who was acting as though he was a statue, standing on a rock, looking down at the village.

He only moved when one of the creatures started to come a little to close to the hill, and then it was only him pulling out a gun. The creature had turned back though and was heading back into the centre of the village, probably to feast on some corpse.

"…Because you're doing a lot to help." Raphael scoffed, leaning back against another pillar as he sharpened his rapier, and watched Amy playing with the little boy that he'd told to hide when the village had been attacked by monsters.

Yunsung scowled and was about to shout a suitably scathing remark at Raphael, when Billy shouted from the pit.

"Hey, he's got it, pull him up!"

Leon and Kilik started pulling Siegfried back up, and Mitsurugi joined them. With the added weight of Soul Edge it was quite a weight to be pulling up. Maxi had moved to where Billy was coming up, and he grabbed the ex-lieutenants hand, helping him out of the hole.

"Thanks."

Maxi nodded at him

"What's it like down there?" Yunsung asked "Are there bodies?"

"No. But it's cold, wet and dark. I could think of a million places better to be."

"It does work as a discouraging tactic to thieves." Siegfried panted out as he threw Soul Edge out of the hole and clambered up himself.

"Yes. Because people, who have traveled half way across the world to get to this sword, are really going to put off by a dark pit." Wesker commented, having moved from his post.

Siegfried scowled at him "You'd be surprised how many people are scared of the dark."

"Enough, you two." Link scolded

"So you're Wesker," Ivy stated looking over at him "They didn't tell me you'd be good looking…German origin?" she purred, looking over at Siegfried, who merely glanced away and looked down at the huge sword that was lying on the floor.

The normally blood red flesh and membranes that covered the flat of the blade, had turned a sort of sickly green and black, and the eye itself in the centre of the sword, seemed to have filmed over, like a zombies eyes do. It was almost as if the sword itself was suffering from the effect of the virus.

Wesker walked over to the blade in front of him, and looked it over, his golden eyes currently uncovered.

"That's….weird." Xianghua commented, noticing his eyes.

Wesker rolled them slightly and knelt down next to the object, pulling out a small injecting gun from inside his suit's coat. He loaded a vial of the antivirus, which was a sort of gold colour that matched Wesker's eyes, instead of the silver of the actual virus. Pulling back on the plunger, which then lodged into the tube, he pulled off a glove and ran his hand over the surface of the flesh, his fingers sliding over slimy, pulpy green skin, and he frowned slightly, not liking the texture of it.

Not able to find a vein to inject it into he pushed the needle into the tear duct of the eye. It twitched slightly as he did so, and he felt the ball push against the thin metal of the needle. Placing a hand over the eye, he injected the anti-virus into the eye. As he drew the needle back out, a thin sliver of gold ran out the hollow, but the rest of it, he could just see spreading underneath the surface of the white-green flesh. Within a minute or so, the entire surface had a gold sheet underneath it.

Wesker stood up. "It would be better for me to able to stay here and keep an eye on if the anti gen works, but I know I don't have that opportunity." He turned and looked over the faces of the people gathered in the stone cathedral.

"How many of you have an understanding of the human body, at least?"

"Raphael's the only one really."

"Well that works out well for you, doesn't it Monsieur Sorrel, considering you want to stay here. I take it that this isn't the swords usual appearence, so I'll ask you to keep an eye on it. It should return to it's former state by tommorow, and any creatures should just die. Anyone who is infected but hasn't started mutating should be returned to normal. If this doesn't happen, then I may have to administer another dose."

"That's it?" Sophitia asked, and Wesker nodded "All these weeks of fear, and that thing is the answer."

"Sucks doesn't it?"

With that Wesker turned and walked out of the cathedral.

"We better go after him. You know how to contact us if anything goes wrong. Hopefully, we'll see you in a few days, when the virus is wiped out." Link stated and smiled slightly "See you then, c'mon you lot, let's go."

"Wait!" Mina called "What're you going to do now?"

"We're going to show Aaron, what happens when Wesker gets angry."

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You know what to do to make me happy :) 


	18. Chapter 18

A.N: I have finally resurfaced.

I apologise for the gap in my updates but I've been busy. Anyway, I hope you like this short, but sweet (hopefully) chapter

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Chapter 17

Aaron sat curled up in a dark corner of the office, glaring at the screens in front of him, and growling lowly in the back of his throat.

The monitors were still showing the events that were happening in Hyrule and the Soul Warrior world. From the looks of things, they were bad, but the situations were starting to improve ever so slightly. For them at least.

For Aaron it meant that his plan was slowly being destroyed, as slowly as the virus was. It was all because of fucking Wesker too, all because that arrogant half-tyrant hadn't liked that his superior had taken control over the situation.

As a Tyrant himself, Aaron could sense when he was surrounded by life, be it animal, human or viral infected life. Though this was a common feature of all Tyrants, one that even Wesker had, the difference with Aaron was that he could actually feel _all_ of the Anodyne virus, feel all of the life forms infected with it. As such he could also feel when one of those creatures was snubbed out of existence, could feel the life of that poor creature draining away.

The anti-virus to the Anodyne was working slowly, but surely.

The thing that he had noticed the most though, was the absence of the power of Soul Edge. When it had been infected he had been able to feel all of its power coursing through his veins, now though, there was just an empty hole where that power had once been, and he missed it.

The one thing that was keeping him from calling on all the infected creatures to attack Wesker and the others was the fact that the Triforce was still infected. The feeling of that surpassed the feeling of Soul Edge, it was ten times, a thousand times, infinite times more powerful, and it was what was keeping him alive as well as holding his hand back. If he lost that though, if he lost that feeling, of a power so vast that it felt like an actual physical pressure enveloping his body, chilling him and warming him at the same time, then there would be nothing to hold him back. If he lost that, he would do anything to get it back.

Aaron shook himself slightly and stood up, stretching, having been curled on the floor for several hours, just glaring at the screens as he watched Wesker moving across Hyrule field, walking on his own in front of the mounted group. He had been curled in the corner longing for that feeling of power from the sword to come back, but mourning its loss and the loss of all the other viral infected creatures' lives.

He glanced back at the screens for a moment and frowned at what he saw.

Wesker was standing in front of the tiny camera that was embedded in a tree stump, his back turned to it as he spoke to someone in the group, that boy with the bright blonde hair. The boy tilted his head slightly and Wesker turned back towards the camera, his hand covering it over as his fingers reached around the small lump and yanked it from the tree. The screen went completely black.

Aaron growled loudly at the loss of the camera and swiped his hand angrily at the objects on the desk in front of him, knocking files, folders and a few knives to the floor.

Walking over to the screens, he angrily punched his fist through the blank one, shattering the glass.

When he pulled his fist out of the now smoking hole, he stared at the blood that was running down his pale arm. It was an extremely dark red, much darker than that of a human's blood, or even Wesker's which was still fairly dark due to the virus.

The blood looked more like thin black oil, running down his arm in rivulets and collecting at his elbow, before dripping onto the floor in a steady stream.

A few seconds later though, the blood flow lessened as the wounds healed, leaving fresh white skin.

Bowing his head, Aaron placed his mouth on his arm and licked his blood of it until it was clean, tasting the copper and the virus that was in it.

Afew seconds later, he jerked his head up as a wave of crippling pain coursed through his body, making his legs buckle.

Aaron fell to the floor, gasping for breath as the pain continued to shoot up his veins, a red hot pain that made it feel like there was lava in his veins, not blood.

He glanced down at his body as the pain continued to assault him. Not just his veins, it was spreading to his muscles, coating them in a blanket of agony.

He managed to get a glimpse of his right arm, and saw the skin trembling, moving like there was something underneath it. He had been shown a few things in his time with Wesker, when the man had actually wanted to relax instead of work, and he remembered seeing him play a film. It had been in Wesker's apartment actually, not the office, for Aaron remembered watching Wesker lying on his bed, watching the film, which happened to be 'The Thing'.

In one of the scenes there was a shot of a man's stomach, and 'The Thing' had been under his skin moving around.

It had looked the same as what was going on in his forearm now.

The pain began to subside and Aaron slowly unfurled himself from his foetal position on the floor. His body was aching with what felt like cramp, his muscles constricted painfully against his bones. Ignoring this he got up off the floor and walked over to the desk, trembling and trying to regain control of himself from the attack.

When he was sure that the attack was well over he turned around to rest against the desk and stretch.

But as he raised his arms over his head, the attack came roaring back, tenfold and Aaron screamed falling to the floor, hitting his head against the hard wood of the desk.

His vision swam in and out of focus, but as it did and he looked around, and tried to fight against the pain, he saw a red stain on the white shirt he was wearing, and then there wasn't a shirt anymore. The pain was back in full force and all Aaron could do was scream in agony as his abdomen ripped open.

There was blackness in front of him as Aaron woke up and looked around. The blackness was giving way to shapes though as he regained a sense of himself.

He pulled himself to his feet quickly and wandered into the bathroom to refresh his face. He caught a glimpse of a clock on the way there, and noticed it was 11:00pm. He had been out for 9 hours.

When he stumbled into the bathroom he flicked the light on and turned to the full length mirror mounted on the wall.

Aaron smirked as his reflection. The corner of his mouth lifting in a smug, satisfied grin.

Just wait until Wesker had seen what his virus had done.

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Thanks for reading and please continue to review. 


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 18

Chris groaned slightly as they approached Hyrule Castle, his thighs, hips and butt aching from the time he had spent riding his horse.

To his left Claire and Jill snorted a laugh at him, whilst the others openly grinned, Maxi turning around and making quips about his discomfort, as well as some innuendoes about 'it's a good thing that Jill can ride', which had earned the pirate a smack around the back of the head from Billy.

Link and Liam were riding side by side at the head of the group, whilst Wesker walked off to the side, tampering with the tiny camera lens that had been embedded in the tree.

Kilik and Siegfried were murmuring to each other about Soul Edges condition, Kilik saying that he wondered if the evil of the virus could perhaps be absorbed into Kali-Yuga, and therefore healed. Siegfried seemed to think that it would perhaps be possible.

Link squinted into the sun as they rode down to the drawbridge, and he was surprised to see that the heavy wooden gate was already lowered, and there were carriages crossing it.

He glanced to Liam.

"Did you here anything about the King leaving or someone visiting?" he asked his twin

"Mmm…no. Although the King was kind of getting worried about the lack of water, perhaps they're from Termina or something, bringing water."

"Unlikely to be Termina…I think they've got their own problems at the moment. It's that festival of Time thing again, so they're probably too busy to help..." he trailed off as two carriages turned towards them. They were both the same size, though one was black, the other white. The white one was being pulled by two black horses, the black, being pulled by two white ones.

The doors of both carriages were embossed with two very similar emblems, though they weren't entirely the same.

The white carriage's emblem was of a pair of male centaurs leaping towards each other, carrying flags with a symbol of peace on them. A female figure was standing underneath the leaping centaurs, her arms stretched upwards.

The black carriage was the same, just about, but the human figure was male, the centaurs, female.

The dark red curtains of the carriages were drawn, and they were surrounded by guards with the crests on their armour.

"They're from Galatia and Calatia." Liam murmured and Link nodded. When the two carriages drew level with the now halted entourage, the curtain of the white one was pushed aside slightly and the person inside looked out at them.

Immediately the carriage halted, followed by the black one stopping a few seconds later, and a woman stepped out of the first, white carriage.

The woman who had stepped out was wearing a long violet dress, a silver shawl wrapped around her shoulders and a silver tiara on her head.

She had solid black hair and white skin that was very slightly tanned, and her eyes were a dark blue-grey. She was also about the same height as Wesker, making her taller than Link.

The woman smiled slightly when she looked up at Link and Liam.

"Well met, Prince Link, Sir Liam…my brother and I were hoping to catch you back at the castle, but we had to leave."

"Queen Ebony, it's a pleasure to see you again, ma'am. We didn't realize that you were coming." Link greeted, bowing his head slightly, Liam following suit.

"We were just passing through from a visit to Serafem. I had heard you were having some difficulties so I wanted to see if there was anything we could do for you. King Harkinian seems to be rather troubled about the situation, although the Princess seems to be doing well."

Link merely smiled as a man rounded the corner of the white carriage, and inclined his head to them in greeting.

He was clearly a twin to this woman, he was the same height, had the same facial features, same colour hair, eyes and skin. In fact, the only difference seemed to be that he was male.

"Link! Liam! A pleasure to see you again."

"And you King Onyx."

"I take it Ebony has explained why we're here."

"She has."

"I'm frightfully sorry to here about your predicament. Simply awful stuff. I hope that you teach whoever created this blasted virus a lesson, he aught to be hung, drawn and quartered for this."

Link grimaced as the King ranted about how the 'creator' should be punished. In fact he didn't stop until a deep growl came from someone behind Link, at the suggestion that the creator should be castrated.

"What on earth was that?" Queen Ebony asked, looking behind Link.

She caught a glimpse of a man with blonde hair standing behind him, dressed in an expensive looking black suit.

"Ah…nothing, really." Liam answered, trying to motion to Wesker to get out of sight. King Onyx was usually pleasant enough, be he abhorred people who killed for experimental purposes, and he found out that Wesker was the person who had created the virus, he would probably make good on his suggestion and try to turn him into a eunuch. Something that he probably wouldn't succeed in, but have it turned on him instead.

"Probably just an animal around here somewhere. Could even be one of the mutants." Leon suggested casually

The King and Queen appeared to agree with this.

"Well, I'm afraid we've lingered here for far too long. We better get going, treaties don't just create themselves." Ebony stated lightly "It's been nice seeing you again. I hope next time we meet it isn't dulled by such horrible situations. Well, goodbye."

She climbed into the carriage and shut the door, whilst the King followed suit, walking back to his carriage after saying his goodbyes. As soon as he shut the door the two carriages moved off, the small army of guards in tow.

Wesker growled again as he glared at the black carriage. "Castration, huh? I'd like to seem him try to carry that out."

"So would I," Chris muttered "But I'd like to see him succeed too."

Wesker seemed to have heard this, for he shot Chris a dark glare and then turned his back on him.

"Uh, King Onyx just gets a little carried away. It does, however, mean there's a very low crime rate in his country." Liam commented, trying to placate the miffed Wesker.

"They looked like twins, and she said they were siblings," Claire mused "But they're both King and Queen. Are they into incest or something?"

Link chuckled slightly.

"Not exactly. You're right; they are twins, but monarchs of two different countries. King Onyx is the King of Galatia, whilst Queen Ebony is the Queen of Calatia."

"How come the countries names are so similar?"

"Well, they used to be one country. However, in the two countries, almost all pregnancies, for some reason, seem to be multiple. Almost all Calatian and Galatian women give birth to twins. It's the norm there, but the twins are very rarely the same sex."

"So they always give birth to a boy and a girl?"

"Yeah…the Royal Family is no exception. It was considered unfair though, that the male would always get the throne out of the twins. So, the original King and Queen split the country in two, to make Calatia and Galatia.

As a result, in Calatia, Queen Ebony's country, women have a higher social status than men and in Galatia it's the other way around."

"It's strange that all women in those counties have double births," Wesker mused "Is there anything to explain that?"

Link shrugged "Not that we've ever been able to find. Although the two countries are very big on…pleasures of the flesh, and engaging in them. Though there are very strict moral codes when it comes to them."

"Like being married?" Yunsung scoffed

"Yes. But that's a must in most countries. There are no such things as prostitutes in those two countries. Anyone found practicing that trade are uh, made barren. They're very uptight about the subject…which I think we should drop, by the way."

"Why? Don't like the subject because you haven't been getting any?"

"There is a line, Yunsung, and you crossed it a few seconds ago. I advise you to get back on the other side of it." Link chided, although it was lightly

Yunsung made a noise somewhere between a growl and a snort, and then became very interested in a beetle that was crawling across the toe of his boot.

"Anyway…" Liam started "We should probably get back to the castle."

"Why the rush?" Chris asked, watching Yunsung with a confused expression on his face, as the Korean bent down and plucked the beetle from of the floor and started playing with it.

"We need to check if the Triforce is still well contained." Link answered and then flinched his head to the castle.

The group took the hint and slowly made their way up to the castle, noting that there were a few more people in the town centre now than there had been over the past couple of days.

Upon arriving at the castle, the horses were led away as were usual, and the group entered the castle, moving to one of the side rooms, to find the sages in a discussion with the king.

The sages raised their heads and offered the group a greeting, giving pointed curious glances to Wesker. Link merely motioned that it wasn't important and he noted that Zelda was sitting in the corner, looking relaxed and in perfect health.

"Why the gathering?" Link asked, slipping into an empty chair near Saria; whilst the others took a place on the floor, save for Wesker, who stood like a sentinel being, by the door.

"We were discussing the barrier around the Triforce?" the King answered, throwing a glance to the others on the floor and Link.

"And?"

"We can only maintain the barrier for a day or two more, at most…you need to hurry up and cure this, before we can drop the barrier, though." Impa answered

"We still haven't found a way to cure the Triforce though," Zelda commented "I doubt Mr.Wesker here can inject the anti-virus into a chunk of solid gold."

"Wesker?" the sages turned dark gazes onto the tyrant by the door.

"I think that you'll find that the biggest problem you face is Aaron," Wesker supplied, staring stolidly back at Darunia, who hadn't taken his eyes off him. "As long as he exists, no matter how much the Triforce is decontaminated, his feed of the virus will replenish it. You need to finish him off first, before you even think of administering the anti-virus."

Link nodded "We are at a dead end when it comes to curing the virus. The best course of action would be, I think, to kill Aaron and see where we can go from there…we haven't got any other choice."

"But will Mr. Wesker desert us after killing him, as was his reason for joining us?" The King snarled

Wesker's mouth turned down briefly in irritation before he answered.

"No. I made the agreement with Link to completely destroy all traces of the Anodyne Virus; I will kill him and then see if I can sort out this mess before I leave your company."

The King rolled his eyes slightly "Fine. Then you better get back to the correct world and do some plotting to kill Aaron before tomorrow and then carry it out tomorrow. We haven't got much time."

The group nodded in agreement and stood up, shuffling out the room.

Link followed then called to Kilik.

"Can I talk to you in private for a moment?"

Kilik glanced around, then nodded and followed Link into a small room.

"What is it?"

"I have a favour to ask for in case the injection of the anti-virus fails."

"Oh?"

"You managed to drain some of Soul Edge's power by absorbing it into you staff, yes?"

Kilik nodded hesitantly

"Do you think that you could do perhaps the same thing for the virus, and then find somewhere to contain it permanently?"

"…It's possible I suppose. The only way I can think of containing it though, is to transfer it to my own body and then have Wesker cure it through an injection…but I'd need to conserve my strength first."

"..Would you be willing to do that? I don't think that injecting the anti-virus directly will work."

Kilik didn't say anything, thinking about the implications of if the process went wrong.

"It's a lot of evil to take in…"

"I'm not forcing you into anything Kilik, if you don't want to. It's just that this is the only way I think this'll work."

The Chinaman stared at Link for a moment, mulling over the complications in his head, and then slowly, almost reluctantly, nodded.

"If I can do it for Soul Edge, I can do it for the Triforce, even if it is a different tactic."

Link smiled gently "Thank you."

Kilik inclined his head "I'll need to stay here to gather my strength though."

Link nodded "I'll tell the others you're not coming…the only problem is Maxi."

"Just don't tell him what's going on…I'll tell your sages."

Link nodded again and then opened the door and slipped out, jogging out of the castle to the open field in front of it, where everyone was gathered.

"Let's go."

"Where's Kilik?" Maxi asked, glaring at Link slightly

"He wants to stay behind and see if he can help the sages with the barrier. I thought it might be a good idea to let him, since the sages need extra help." Link lied

"Alright." Maxi grumbled

With Link and Liam in the front, the group set off to the 'modern' world to face Aaron, planning on the way there, not wanting to bother wasting time.

Wesker supplied the information about Aaron's whereabouts and behaviour, what his weak points were likely to be, and what defences, if any, he had set up.

As they passed through to the other world, and settled down to sleep in Leon and Claire's apartment, despite the time of day, they had no idea of what the battle that was ahead of them would take to win.

* * *


	20. Chapter 20

A.N: Ok, I apologise to anyone out there who has been waiting for this for a while, but I had exams... Anyway, they're over and done with now, so...back to the story!

* * *

Chapter 19

Wesker, unsurprisingly, was the first member of the group to wake up. Having not really slept the night before, however, and being a tyrant, he hadn't needed the sleep and had spent most of his time in the night, wandering around the park, a few minutes walk away from Leon's apartment.

Currently, he was making his way to the entrance of Leon's apartment building, having just signed out of the hotel he had stayed in that night. He passed through the park as he walked at a brisk pace to the multi-storey building, knowing, however, that most of the group would still only just be waking up, as it was only 7:30am.

Despite the early time though, the city of Washington DC was extraordinarily busy, people just starting to leave their homes for work, some already stuck in grid lock, just ten blocks away from where Wesker stood, watching people scurry by, and he briefly wondered how Leon and co. managed to get this rather lengthy amount of time off work.

Shaking himself slightly, he continued towards the building at a slower pace. They were supposed to be meeting outside the building at 8:00am, meaning he still had half an hour to spare.

To his surprise, when he got to the front of the building, he found a few members of the group already out there, loading up the cars.

Chris glanced up as Wesker approached them and grunted at him, before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, letting out a contented sigh as he inhaled the smoke and leaned back against the jeep.

"Jill's gonna kill you if she finds you doing that," Billy commented, shoving a few things aside to slot a bag in, and then slamming the boot down.

Chris merely shrugged a shoulder "Less work for Wesker, then,"

"Believe me, Redfield, as amusing as it would be to see you murdered by your wife, I would far prefer for your death to be at my hands." Wesker stated simply, folding his arms across his chest.

Chris didn't answer just grunted again and went back to his cigarette. Maxi, who was sitting on the curb glanced over to Billy and rolled his eyes.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the four men for a few minutes, until Yunsung came out and shattered the silence by yelling:

"Alright! Are we ready to go and kick some mutated freaks butt?"

Maxi rolled his eyes again and flicked his hair back, before getting to his feet. "I suppose."

Wesker looked over to Chris "You know where we're going, yes?"

Chris nodded, cigarette still hanging between his lips.

"Good, then I'll go ahead and meet you there…try not to take too long." With that, the blonde disappeared around the corner and headed for his car.

"Who's going with whom anyway?" Billy asked

"I'm going on my motorbike, you, Jill and Claire are going together in the jeep, and Leon has borrowed a mini van and is taking everyone else."

Billy nodded, watching Chris walk over to the black motorcycle by the side of the curb. He quickly picked up his leathers and started pulling them on, when the rest of the group walked out.

They all seemed tight lipped and anxious.

Leon, without saying a word, walked out of sight and came back a few minutes later with a non-descript mini van.

"Alright, get in." he ordered, gesturing to the opened back doors. The Soul Warriors, Link and Liam clambered into the back of the van, and he slammed the door shut behind him.

Meanwhile, the others had got into the jeep and Chris had mounted his bike. Leon nodded to him, before hoisting himself into the driver's seat of the mini van, closing the door and starting it up.

Chris pulled up beside him "Just follow me, and try not to get lost."

Leon nodded and Chris snapped the visor of his helmet shut, revved the bike, and took off down the strangely empty road, in the opposite direction to the rest of the city, inching their way to the centre of town.

Chris pulled up the dirt track slope into a field, making his way towards the tall figure of Wesker, who was leaning over the back of the black Mercedes he drove, pulling things out and strapping them to his body.

Stopping close to the car, Chris killed the bike and pulled off his helmet as he dismounted, running his fingers through his hair to make it stick up again.

"Hope you haven't been waiting long" he said through gritted teeth.

"Not really. I arrived here about 5 minutes ago."

"Oh good." he spat out sarcastically

Behind the sunglasses, Wesker rolled his eyes. He pulled them off a moment later until he found the hunting knife he had been looking for, and strapped it to his thigh.

Chris watched him out of the corner of his eye as he pulled off his leathers and changed into some slightly more comfortable, stealthy clothing.

Ironically, the tactical vest he had with him was the very one he had worn when he and the rest of the now ex-STARS team, had done the mansion mission.

"Was the irony intentional or not?" Wesker asked, pulling a silver case from the boot, glancing over to Chris.

The brunette merely scowled at him and pulled the vest on, tightening it and then pushing guns into their holsters.

He looked up when he saw the mini van struggle up the track followed by the jeep.

When Leon had finally managed to park the van he shoved the door open, looking disgruntled. Billy had also gotten out of the jeep and was laughing at Leon.

"What happened? Why are you late?"

"He broke down." Billy sniggered, going over to the back of the jeep to pull his gear out, whilst Leon yanked the doors of the van open, and the others stumbled out and he continued to grumble under his breath. For the next few minutes most of the group busied themselves with preparing for the mission.

Chris, who was ready, looked over to Wesker who had opened the silver case and was looking inside it.

"It's a little something for backup, Chris. I like to be sure that I'm going to come out alive and with what I intended. True, that didn't happen in the mansion" he held up his hand when Chris opened his mouth to comment "But I was working against you then. I'm working with you now…what could possibly go wrong?"

"So what is it?" Chris asked, his hatred being overridden by curiosity for the moment.

"A couple of doses of the anti-virus, and a few vials of a weak form of the T-Virus."

"Why?"

"Incase I need it. I'm not impervious, and if I'm injured to the point of not being able to heal it quickly, I might need to use it as a sort of pick-me-up."

"Not carrying a gun then?"

"Why do I need to? You and your friends have plenty of gun power, and I want to fight Aaron one on one for at least a little while. Tire him out, and then you can finish him off if you wish."

"… I suppose that'll do. As long as Aaron dies it doesn't really matter."

Chris shrugged and looked over to where Leon and Billy were just finishing up. Jill and Claire were watching the Soul Calibur guys, who had actually changed into black clothing as well.

"Are we ready to go?" Chris shouted

The group turned to look at him, and then nodded, glancing to Wesker as he locked his car and hid the keys.

"Let's move out then."

Chris looked to Wesker, who merely nodded and started to walk away from the vehicles.

The rest of the group trotted up behind and arranged themselves so they could talk with whom they wished to.

Chris hovered just behind Wesker, watching him suspiciously, as the older man just continued to walk with long easy strides. He became suspicious when Wesker stopped by a cluster of trees, and seemed to listen for a moment, before continuing to walk.

After two hours of walking in relative silence, the group was starting to become impatient.

"Do you actually know where this facility is or not?" Yunsung yelled from somewhere near the back of the group.

Wesker turned round and curled his upper lip into an unfriendly sneer at Yunsung.

"Be quiet, boy. We're almost there…and it's not a facility we're going to."

"What is it then?"

Wesker didn't answer, just glanced around for a moment, then turned right and continued onto a little dirt path that was scuffed between short scrub grass.

They followed the path for another few minutes, until they came to a small clearing, in the centre of which was set a small grey-blue house.

Chris looked back to the rest of the group, and they mirrored his uncertain expression as Wesker walked to the front door.

"Are you serious? We're just going to walk into this person's house?"

Wesker just grunted and pushed the front door open as he stood on the porch.

Glancing at each other, everyone followed him inside the house.

The front door opened into a short hallway, with two doors on either side of them, but Wesker ignored them and walked further down the hall.

About halfway down, the walls stopped, so that the two other rooms were open to the hall. The room on their right was a kitchen, on the left a living room with a flight of stairs.

The house smelt vaguely of dust and disuse, but there was a faint hint of furniture polish in the air too, and it seemed that whilst the house had been empty for a while, it was well cared for by whoever came here from time to time.

They turned right into the kitchen, to see Wesker in the refrigerator.

"Because he's going to be hiding in the fridge." Claire remarked

Wesker pulled his head back "I haven't eaten this morning…I was seeing if there was anything."

He shut the fridge and walked back up the hall, to the door that was now on his left.

The room seemed to be nothing more than a storage cupboard, but in one corner, there were a few floorboards lying out of place from the rest.

Walking over to them, he pulled them back to reveal a flight of stairs. Pulling a few more out of the way, Wesker began to descend the stairs.

"Coming?" he asked, looking back at the others.

Hesitantly, they followed him down the stairs to find themselves in a dark, cramped passage.

"This strangely reminds me of the training facility," Billy commented, looking at the grey-green walls. Wesker glanced back and seemed to be trying to say 'don't even go there'.

Billy merely shrugged and they continued on their way down the passage, following the silhouette of Wesker as they wound through a seeming underground labyrinth.

As they turned a corner into a wider passage that was lit by a few lamps on the side, Wesker stopped abruptly, holding up his hand, and drawing a knife from under the black turtleneck sweatshirt he was wearing.

Chris raised an eyebrow at the ex-captain's behaviour, but took it as a good reason to draw his own weapon. Aiming down the corridor, they waited for a moment.

For that moment, there was nothing…then, a faint high-pitched squeaking sound reached them, and grew steadily louder and deeper until it resembled something of a rasping growl.

The creature it was coming from emerged soon after, from the thick shadows at the end of the hallway.

Chris rolled his eyes slightly as a rat ran towards them, and then straight passed them until the creature that was making the growling appeared.

Tensing, Wesker sniffed at the air slightly, and then cocked his head to the side, listening for footfalls. There didn't seem to be any.

The creature came round the corner before Wesker had time to say what it was, padding slowly up the corridor, lowering it's head as it was joined by five others of its kind.

"Oh crap," Claire muttered.

The animals were once wolves, or something very similar, like a husky dog, for they had the silver grey and brown tints to their fur, or what was left of it.

Most of it had fallen out, leaving white, raw red, or purple skin exposed, the ratty strings of fur hanging down from the animals' limbs, trailing on the floor.

Bone was visible on a few of them, the skin along the spine and ribs having split open in places to reveal the inner organs. The eyes had sunk into the skull and were discoloured, changed to an inflamed red-pink colour.

The 'wolf' in front started padding towards the group again, opening its mouth to growl, revealing too many teeth, extra rows pushing out of bleeding gums and even the edge of the lolling tongue.

The leader suddenly threw back its head, letting out a loud long howl, before bounding towards the group, saliva gathering in its mouth and dripping to the floor.

Wesker tightened his grip on the knife he was holding, whilst Chris and Leon fired at the creatures, peppering their heads with shots. But the shots didn't register, and the lead wolf leaped for Wesker, despite his diseased blood, only to die a few seconds later, the knife in its mouth, the blade in the roof, plunged into the brain.

Wesker pried the knife out of the wolf's mouth, letting the body drop fully to the floor, whilst Billy and Jill moved forwards, to finish off the two 'wolves' that were now left. Chris and Leon had blown holes in the creatures' brains and eyes.

Billy fired a shot and it hit the creature between the eyes, it crumpled to the floor, dead. A couple of seconds later it was joined by the last creature.

Wesker knelt down next to the wolf he had killed, looking it over as if it might yield a clue to where Aaron was within this place. There was nothing.

Turning to Chris he sheathed the knife, then waited until Chris had finished reloading to speak.

"I need to go and check on the test subjects in the lab down here. I suggest you carry on, though seeing the creatures and finding out there weaknesses might prove beneficial. In any case, you shouldn't split up from your group."

"I don't trust you," Chris answered "If you go somewhere, I'm going too."

Wesker rolled his eyes behind the sunglasses.

"Fine. The lab is just down the corridor."

Quickly, Wesker turned back to the right direction and strode down the corridor. After a quick walk to the end, he entered a small laboratory.

The entire far side of the wall was dominated by cages, various mutants sitting in them, hissing at the intruders through the bars.

There was a small computer in the right hand corner, and Wesker strode over to it quickly, whilst the others filed inside, and skirted around the operating table in the centre of the room. There was a dissected Hunter lying on it, its organs hanging on the table around it, causing a terrible stink.

"I wouldn't get too close if I were you, for the few of you that have taken interest in either that Hunter or the creatures in the cages." Wesker warned as he tapped a few keys on the keyboard slipping a disk into a port on the PC.

"The hunter is dead," Yunsung pointed out "What could it do? It's been cut up."

"That's my point. It's not going to come back to life, but if you get infected with the T-Virus, then you're going to be dying in a very painful way."

"You're infected with it," Yunsung pointed out "You're not dead."

"…You will turn into a zombie if you go near it. I am infected with an adapted form of the T-virus, which allows me to keep my life. And, no, I can't make any more of this version."

"Why not?"

"I can't. I don't know how."

"Didn't you create it though?"

Wesker snorted and hit the enter key, sending a worm into the computer. "No," he answered turning around "William Birkin made this version, and I never matched up to his intelligence."

A light tone sounded a moment later and Wesker turned back around to open up a few files. Yunsung wandered over, looking at the complex structure on the screen.

"And you understand that?"

Wesker nodded slightly and scrolled down, his eyes scanning the data on the page. He made an angry noise in the back of his throat at a certain point, and Yunsung moved back to the rest of the group, lest he get hit.

After a few more minutes, Wesker fiddled around with the computer a bit, and then pocketed the disk.

"Well?" Chris asked

"These creatures are easy to defeat. Or should be. A characteristic of this virus is that the infected subjects tend to split open during mutation to grow extra limbs etc. They don't heal fully either."

"Those were what the splits on those wolves were." Claire exclaimed.

Wesker nodded "They had been infected for several weeks and so had managed to heal the wounds to a further degree than anything else in here." He gestured at the animals in the cages

"So we go for the wounds?"

"That would be a suitable strategy, don't you think?"

Jill, Chris and Claire grumbled slightly at the condescending response.

"We should continue. Aaron is close by and if we linger here too long they'll get agitated and try to fully break out." Wesker stated, gesturing to the experiments locked in the cages.

The group nodded. Turning on their heels, they moved back into the corridor and down the path to Aaron.

* * *

OK loyal readers, there are only 6 days to go til Christmas, so let's get into the Christmas Spirit and review lots as a pressie. In return as a present to all you lovely peoples, I'll write the best last chapters I can...

Clicky, Clicky...don't forget peoples. :)


	21. Chapter 21

A.N: Ok people, the end is nigh. Just two more chapters to go.I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 20

The group continued on their way down the dark winding corridors of the basement of the house, stopping occasionally at the distant cry of a monster, or to fight one that had leapt out of the shadows at them.

Once or twice they had caught a glimpse of something rushing through the corridors ahead, but they had never confronted it, for it seemed more content in rushing around, making strange squealing noises.

All they had managed to see of the creature as it had made its frenzied runs, was that it appeared to be vaguely human and had a lot of inflamed pinky-red tissue on show.

Wesker had merely raised an eyebrow each time it had run past, but he was guessing that Aaron was somehow using the creature to take note of where the group was within the underground labyrinth.

It was as they were coming to the penultimate corridor before they reached the lab in which Aaron was lurking (or so Wesker had told the rest of them), that the creature stopped before them, and even Wesker had recoiled at the appearance and stench of it.

It reminded him of when he had first entered the Arklay Labs in the Spencer Mansion, when he had first seen Lisa Trevor.

The creature was around six foot or so, it's arms hanging limply by its side, its head making strange backward jerking motions, as if it were having a fit.

From the looks of the exposed flesh of the mutant, during the mutation, its whole body had turned inside out.

Its eyes were completely missing, its mouth just a thin slit which its tongue poked out of. Purple coloured corded muscle stood out all over its body, covered in a thin layer of pink-red slimy 'skin', blue veins and capillaries running visibly through the flesh, all spilling out from the throbbing white heart in the centre of its chest, that was covered in drying black and red blood, making each beat of the heart slow and shuddering.

Its lungs expanded and contracted slowly, fleshy pink bags forcing the partially exposed ribs upwards, and then letting them thud back down.

Every organ of the creature was visible, including its bladder, stomach, liver, kidneys and intestines. All covered in that pinky-red slime, a layer of yellow muscle covering the intestines that were starting to slide downwards, pulling the rest of the digestive system with it, the oesophagus lying taut against the neck.

Chris and Billy took a couple of steps back, recoiling from the overwhelming stench of blood and urine that emanated from the creature, and the rest of group followed suit, giving them space to move backwards whilst Wesker grimaced at the smell and covered his mouth and nose, the smell of the creature so strong that he could almost taste bile on his tongue…whether the bile belonged to him or the creature though, he wasn't sure.

The creature took a shuddering step forwards and then squealed again, its vocal cords tightening and thinning beside the oesophagus, as it threw its head back and squealed again. Throwing its arms out to the side and dragging its 'palms' against the wall, leaving a smear of blood and mucus, its fingers clenching as it squealed again.

Link stood near the back of the group, watching the creature with a sort of morbid curiosity at its behaviour, its mutilated body, as it threw back its head repeatedly and squealed again and again, its hands clenching against the wall, its body bucking and muscles spasming.

Sliding his eyes over to Wesker, he noticed the part-Tyrant frowning and drawing his knife, preparing to kill the creature.

Link pushed through the group who were clustered as far back as possible, and stood beside Wesker.

"What are you going to do?" he asked quietly

"Kill it."

"Why?"

"Because it's mutated, because it's blocking our path, and because its shrieks are annoying me."

Link frowned slightly "Why is it jerking?"

Wesker snorted "It's in pain. Probably beginning to mutate." Wesker turned to Link. "This lot don't seem to be able to handle it, whether it's the smell or appearance I don't know, either way, I want you to get them to move back about a meter or so. Keep them out of the way."

It was as Link was ushering the group back, Wesker's eyes lingering on him as he did so, that the creature began to mutate.

An eye suddenly burst out of the centre of its chest, spraying blood and other fluids over the group, most of it hitting Wesker. The creatures limbs enlarged and several shards of bone punched out of the skin, a raw bloody wound appearing over its abdomen as white teeth began to appear, tearing through the creatures own internal organs. Needle like pieces of bone pushed out of the fingertips of the creature's hands, a clear fluid dribbling down the sides of them.

It collapsed to the floor a moments later, then split open its sides, a multitude of thin arms pushing out of the wound, flailing and snatching at the air.

With the mutation seemingly complete, the creature turned its attention to Wesker, ignoring the rest of the group as if they weren't worth the trouble.

It lunged towards Wesker gracelessly, and he took a step back before sidestepping another lunge, throwing his leg out, tripping the creature over. As it fell, the shrivelled arms that protruded from its sides, grabbed for him, latching on to his waist, even as he brought his left hand down and back, smashing into the creatures jaw.

The force of the pseudo punch ripped the flesh of the creatures face, tearing through purple muscle down to the hidden skull underneath. The piece of jaw bone that had been connected to the rest of the skull shattered, leaving the rest of the lower jaw to fall free and hang by the right side that was still intact. As the jaw hung limply, the tongue spilled out of the new wound, lolling onto the exposed throat.

The hands holding onto Wesker's waist tightened their grip, and he kicked out blindly in an attempt to get the creature off him.

Wesker's kick connected with the mutant's crotch, and the body shunted backwards. While it was still moving, Wesker reached down and grabbed the hanging jaw and ripped it from the face.

Seizing hold of the few ratty strands of hair with his right hand, he turned the head towards the others. As he did so, a shot rang out loudly in the hall, the sound reverberating off the walls.

The creature, with a hole blown through its head, hit the floor heavily as it finally released Wesker.

Leon exhaled slowly as he dropped his stance, lowering the Desert Eagle Magnum to his side and holstering it. When Link had ushered the group away earlier, a few had lost control of their stomachs, vomiting over the floor. As a result, Chris and the others had been far too busy placating the members who had been sick to notice that Wesker had been struggling with the creature.

Leon had been the only one who had, and he had sprinted up the corridor to help Wesker out, knowing that if the Tyrant couldn't fight, then they had no chance against Aaron, and Hyrule was as good as dead.

Wesker looked at Leon and nodded curtly as thanks as the rest of the group, having recovered from the sudden loss of their lunch, jogged up to them.

"So you killed it?" Chris asked leaning down to take a look at it, then recoiling from the stench.

"With the aid of Mr. Kennedy, yes," Wesker answered as he pulled off the light suit jacket he was wearing, grunting in irritation at the gashes down the side of the fabric.

Chris smirked slightly as Wesker threw the coat over the body and brushed his hands over the black turtleneck sweatshirt he was wearing.

"If you're ready to face Aaron," Wesker started "we should move on…he's just down the next corridor."

Chris nodded and Wesker took the lead again, walking quickly, the rest of the group jogging to keep up with his quick pace.

Within a few minutes they were standing outside the silver coloured door of the lab in which Aaron was lurking.

Jill breathed in quietly as Maxi and Billy jogged up to the group, having brought up rear. Her former captain had a look on his face that was the closest thing to excitement that she had ever seen from him. It seemed that he was looking forward to this encounter. She, on the other hand, certainly wasn't. She looked over to Chris for reassurance, and he offered it in the form of a small smile. Moving closer to her, he brushed her hand slightly with his and settled his other on her shoulder. Leaning forwards, he whispered into her ear;

"Relax, Wesker will be doing most of the fighting, we're just finishing him off…OK?"

She nodded at her husband then looked to Wesker who had his gloved hand on the door. He noticed her looking at him and glanced towards her, nodding slightly then looking to the rest of the group.

As everyone turned and faced the door, Wesker placed his other hand on the slick surface and pushed. The door creaked slightly, and Jill saw him lean into the push, using all his strength to move the heavy metal. Inch by inch, the door opened slowly, revealing darkness and a silhouetted figure, which no longer resembled a human being.

Link drew his sword as he moved inside the dark room, his senses on edge, taking in every noise, smell and all that could be seen.

Aaron sat in a chair at the back of the room, facing them, but as the lights snapped on, and the door slid shut, it was clear that he had gone through a few changes.

Billy slid his gun out of its holster at the same time as everyone else did. That being the moment after everyone had recovered from being blinded from the sudden burst of light after the long darkness, and laid their eyes on the 'new' Aaron.

Siegfried scowled at the 'person' in front of him.

Aaron no longer resembled the small scrawny human, with dull unassuming looks. Instead, there was a monstrosity sitting in the chair.

His body had swelled up, leaving him standing at about eight foot tall, his skin now a bronze colour, silver veins running over the skin. His right arm had formed into a collection of ropy tentacles that loosely resembled an arm, while his left seemed to have merely grown claws.

From the shoulder blades a pair of wings had grown, frail pieces of bone draped with a clear membrane, still laced with silver veins.

His face seemed to have changed the most though. His hair was still black and greasy, hanging limply onto his shoulders, but his face was covered in pitted scars, as if it had ripped open several times during the mutation. His eyes now resembled Wesker's, slitted pupils but with a completely white iris, shot through with those strange silver veins. His mouth was now displaying several large fangs, jutting out and curling over his lips, cutting them open.

His torso remained much the same, apart from size and colour, but there seemed to be far more of that knotted muscle over his chest and abdomen. It was in such an excess though that it had folded over on itself, giving him a flabby look.

His legs remained exactly the same, making the disproportionately small to the rest of his body, stark white compared to the shimmering brown of the rest of his skin.

"Welcome back, Wesker," Aaron hissed out, his words marred by the fangs "and of course, your new – found team."

Chris growled lowly in the back of his throat at that. Aaron ignored him.

"How do you like the little surprise I left for you?" he asked Wesker

"You mean my Hunters? Very nice. I shall have to return the favour to you. I don't like to be in debt."

Aaron smirked "Will you now?"

"Why don't you cut the crap and just fight him already?" Chris snapped

"Very well then, though I must warn you that I'm not going to lose." He turned to Wesker, who merely pulled off his sunglasses and handed them to Claire who was standing next to him.

"We shall see."

Wesker pulled out his knife and dropped it on the floor, and stepped towards Aaron, who stood up and pushed the chair back to the far wall.

The two mutants stepped towards each other, then began to circle each other.

It was Aaron who made the first move, lashing out with the strange tentacle arm, aiming to knock Wesker off balance by striking him across the head. Wesker blocked the attack throwing his arms up in front of his face, grabbing one of the tentacles and pulling on it, dragging the hulking monster towards him.

In response Aaron curled the other tentacles around Wesker's arm, bending it around in an attempt to snap it off.

Wesker twisted with the arm as much as possible, trying to avoid unnecessary pain so early on in the fight. In an attempt to free himself he dropped to the floor and kicked out at Aaron's ankles, catching the side of it.

The attempt was successful and Aaron fell to the floor.

With Wesker still crouched Aaron kept a hold of Wesker's arm and threw himself towards him. Aaron landed next to him, his other hand going for Wesker's throat. The hand missed as Wesker twisted out the way, but his claws raked across the blonde's face, drawing dark red blood that contrasted sharply with his pale skin. Wesker hissed in pain and kicked out Aaron, his foot connecting with a hard wall of muscle. The impact jarred his leg and he lashed out in an almost desperate attempt to harm Aaron.

His gloved hand collided with the side of Aaron's face and he reeled away slightly, giving Wesker enough of a chance to wriggle out of his grasp.

The two staggered upright and away from each other. Wesker backed away letting the wounds across his face heal. The first blood had been drawn.

Growling, Wesker wasted no time in attacking Aaron. Rushing forwards, he slammed into the creation, using his speed, strength and weight combined with Aaron's disproportionately sized body to tackle him to the far wall.

As Aaron stumbled backwards from the attack, Wesker rushed at him again with a viciousness that the Tyrant himself didn't even know he had. His fist slammed into Aaron's face repeatedly, smashing into his mouth, his gloves ripping on the fangs, opening wounds on his knuckles that poured as much blood as was now coming out of Aaron's mouth. His punches shattered Aaron's nose, knocked a tooth out, broke open the skin of his cheek which sprayed a fountain of silver blood across Wesker's face.

Wesker's screamed and stumbled away from Aaron, his hands cradling his face as he continued to let out low sounds of pain. When he reached the far wall and seemed to have recovered, he pulled his hands away the spectators saw a dark red bloody steak across Wesker's nose and cheeks, a few specks of blood up near his temple, the skin having been eaten away. It seemed that Aaron's blood was corrosive.

"Like the surprise?" Aaron asked smugly, grinning at Wesker who was hunched in the corner of the room still uttering low keening sounds of pain.

In response, Wesker merely snarled and straightened up, his face still twisted in an expression of pain. Watching Aaron closely he moved towards him again, his steps deliberately slow and heavy. When he was within a foot of Aaron, he stopped and looked at him for a moment before they started to circle each other once more.

Wesker lunged for Aaron suddenly, his elbow swinging round and hitting Aaron in the mouth, whilst Aaron's hand moved to Wesker's shoulder, his claws tearing through the fabric of Wesker's sweatshirt and plunging into the flesh of his shoulder. Using his slightly greater strength, the 'Anodyne' creature pushed his opponent roughly, slamming the man into the wall, his back hitting a pipe that dug in and settled uncomfortably between his shoulders. Backing off, Aaron rushed forwards again a second later, pushing the blonde further onto the pipe.

Wesker grimaced as the pipe underneath his back broke, the ripped edge of it digging into his spine. He wasn't going to let Aaron win though, no matter what the cost and he reached out, grabbing the tentacle arm, twisting one of the long 'fingers', ripping the flesh and causing more of that shimmering metallic blood to pour out and onto the floor. The Tyrant laughed when Aaron shrieked in pain, the noise similar to the one that the inside-out creature that he had fought outside, and continued to do so even when Aaron's blood ran into the healing wounds on his knuckles. Catching himself, Wesker stopped his insane laughter and pulled the appendage he had hold of more forcefully, ripping it from the rest of the limb. Aaron stepped back a little and Wesker tackled him, the two falling to the floor, both struggling for dominance.

The struggle continued on for what seemed an eternity before Aaron finally pulled himself on top of Wesker, the remaining fingers of his tentacle hand wrapping around Wesker's throat, making him hiss from the blood that was spattered on his neck. He writhed under Aaron until the clawed hand slammed into his forehead and dragging down, and Wesker barely had time to snap his eyelid shut before Aaron' claws raked over it and continued down to his jaw.

Lashing out, Wesker caught hold of the elbow of the clawed arm and squeezed it in an attempt to snap it, whilst Aaron's claws raked down his face again, ripping through the already raw wounds, shredding muscle and flesh. Aaron yelped when Wesker's hand grabbed his shoulder and ground the bones together, his other hand rising to strike Aaron across the face, knocking him away from himself.

The two struggled upright and away from each other before rushing forwards again, Aaron's clawed hand going for Wesker's throat. He only managed to grab the collar of the shirt he was wearing, but he pushed his knuckles forward and down. His opponent, however, had struggled away enough that the claws only caught the base of his neck, just above the collarbones, but they had plunged into the soft flesh and he dragged down, pushing his hand in as far as it could go, tearing the flesh of Wesker's chest and stomach away with his hand just as much as with his claws. His tentacle 'hand' wrapped around Wesker's throat, and the Tyrant reached up, struggling to pull the squeezing appendages away.

He didn't manage it, but as the fingers tightened around his neck, and the other hand ripped his flesh away, Wesker turned his hips and kicked Aaron in the chest as hard as he could. The fingers ripped from around his throat, leaving a red mark only, and Wesker took full opportunity of Aaron's surprise.

As quickly as his injured body would allow, Wesker landed on his fallen enemies chest, and using his weight to fully pin him down, pulled at the tentacle arm as hard as he could, until it finally ripped away from the shoulder, spraying silver blood across the room.

Wesker fell back, clutching the wounds of his chest as the blood burnt them, and he screamed loudly, the force of the yell ripping at the back of his throat.

And Aaron was screaming too, making the room fill with a cacophony of pained wails.

Despite the loss of his limb however, Aaron recovered first and he pulled himself up. As he did, he noticed Wesker's combat knife that the ex-STARS captain had dropped earlier.

He lunged for it, just as Jill did, having noticed Aaron's gaze but he snatched it up first, shoving Jill backwards with his remaining hand.

Whilst Chris jumped over to catch his wife, Aaron strode over to Wesker who was beginning to push himself up from the floor.

Before he could fully achieve that though, Aaron kicked him, and he fell to the floor, rolling onto his back as Aaron drove the knife down into his lower stomach, and pulling the knife downwards through Wesker's groin muscles.

He was intent on finishing the job, but before he had a chance, something slammed into the back of his head and he pitched forward, turned sharply to see Maxi holding his now slightly bloody nunchaku.

Wesker was instantly forgotten, and Aaron jumped for the pirate, who dodged out of the way, and was replaced with Siegfried.

The German swung the Zweihander he had with him around, managing to get it lying under the mutant, whose descent to the floor had suddenly stopped. Using all of his strength, Siegfried grasped the hilt with two hands and heaved upwards, flipping the mutant into the air.

Yunsung leapt forwards as Aaron hit the floor, slamming his sword between Aaron's shoulder blades, and the stamping on it, in what he called his 'Drac slayer' move. Yunsung suddenly yanked the sword out of him, and Liam moved forwards.

Using his sword like a spear, Liam drove it through the shoulder where the tentacle had been ripped off, and using the sword as a lever to hoist Aaron up, so he stood upright, where he was instantly shot at by Billy, Jill, Claire and Leon.

As Liam drew his sword out of Aaron's shoulder, Maxi came up behind the mutant, flicked the nunchaku around Aaron's neck, and tugged so that his battered torso was bent backwards.

Chris looked to Link and nodded as Maxi held the dying creature in place.

The two men walked forwards. Link pulled out the Master Sword, plunging it into Aaron's heart just as a shot rang out from Chris's gun, killing the creature, together.

Maxi pulled the chain of his nunchaku away from the corpse's neck. The body toppled over, and lay completely still.

The group gathered around the body and stared down at it in hatred, as those with bloodied weapons wiped them clean on the cloth of Aaron's pants.

Link exhaled quietly and pushed his sword back into its scabbard.

"That was a job well done, I'd say." he commented

Chris was about to reply, a smirk on his lips at the victory, but he was stopped by Jill. She had laid her hand on his arm and as he asked he what was wrong she flinched her head into the corner of the room.

Chris followed the movement and saw what she was referring to, just as the rest of the group caught wind of it as well.

Wesker, who had clearly done most of the fighting, the one who probably deserved the most credit, was curled up in the corner, his hands trying to cover his wounds, his combat knife still stuck in his body near his hip cavity.

Sighing quietly, Chris walked over to the injured Tyrant, and grabbed him by the shoulders, dragging him out of the corner and pulling his body straight.

With a disgruntled look on his face, he moved to Wesker's side to look at the injuries he'd gained.

The disgruntled look and feeling that Chris had disappeared as soon as he took in the sight of Wesker's mutilated flesh though, and he found himself feeling something towards the traitor that he never thought he'd feel again. Pity.

Jill noticed the softening of her husbands features, and knew that it had to be bad for Chris's expression to change to pity for Wesker.

Uncertainly, she moved to stand by her husband's side, and when she did, she had to turn her head away from the sight.

The front of Wesker's torso was shredded, dark blood trickling into a puddle that was forming along the length of his torso. His breathing was slow and laboured, the occasional shudder of pain making a few loose strands of flesh dangle from his ruined chest.

He was bleeding from everywhere, it seemed. It was dripping from his raw, bloody face, the pin prick wounds in his bare shoulder, the gaping gash in his torso, the scraped skin of his bare back caused by the pipe, the thin, deep cut that trailed from his stomach to his pelvis. It contrasted brilliantly with the pure white skin of Wesker's naked torso that was adopting a grey tinge, the healthy, living look seeping out of his flesh.

Chris carefully reached forwards and curled his fingers around the handle of the combat knife, drawing it out of the Tyrants hip, wincing at the scraping sound of metal on bone as he did so.

Wesker jerked backwards suddenly, a cry of pain escaping his lips before he had a chance to restrain it. The knife being drawn out of his hip was bad enough, but Chris had scraped the open wounds of his torso with his hand, and it sent a wave of pain rippling through Wesker's now next to useless body. He trembled uncontrollably, flecks of Aaron's blood still present in his wounds, especially that of his knuckles and face. The right side of his face, Wesker new from the nauseating pain that emanated from it, was a mess that was probably irreparable. The rest of his face was swollen, and he didn't even want to try to assess the rest of his body. It didn't matter anyway, Wesker was sure he was going to die.

Opening his eyes briefly, Wesker glanced at the people who had congregated around him, that were staring at his broken body with various degrees of pity written on their faces.

He sighed heavily, his breath rattling out of his throat, and closed his eyes.

"..You..s...should probably get…" he choked on his words "back to…saving your country." Wesker's voice came out sounding incredibly old and frail. The group murmured something to each other, and he heard footsteps moving away from him and the door being pulled open. Someone remained by his side though, and he felt the remains of his sweatshirt being draped over his body as it shuddered. With some effort, he opened his eyes to see Chris and Jill still by his side. Jill glanced at him for a moment then straightened and walked to the others who were waiting by the door.

Chris stared down at his dying ex-captain, and he couldn't help thinking that Link had been right. No matter how much he hated Wesker, to see him lying on the floor in a pool on his own blood, gasping for breath and shuddering in pain when he had been in the peak of physical condition just ten minutes ago, was distressing to him. The man deserved to die in pain, certainly, for all the sins he had committed, but Chris still didn't like seeing him like this.

Clearing his throat, Chris briefly reached out to Wesker, his right hand grazing the dying man's, his left settling on his shoulder for a moment. He stayed like that for a second, feeling the formerly hot skin under his hand cooling rapidly.

He pulled away when Wesker's yellow eyes slid shut and the Tyrant seemed to lose consciousness, his shoulders slumping.

Chris stood up and then walked to the others, turning back to survey the room. The white walls streaked with red and silver from the two combatants that lay on the floor, one dead, the other dying.

He turned back and nodded to Link who was standing out in the corridor.

The Hylian moved off without a word, the others filing out into the hall behind him. Stepping out of the lab, Chris turned back to shut the heavy silver door. As he did so, he saw Wesker breathing what was probably his last breath.

* * *

Ok, as usual please review...blah,blah,blah


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 21

The group walked in silence back towards the upper levels of the house, too engrossed in keeping watch for any of the Anodyne creatures that might still be running around and the thoughts of the events that had just transpired.

They reached the stairs up to the ground level of the house without any incident. Link and Yunsung were the first to reach the ground level, and whilst Link waited patiently for the rest of the group to come up from the basement, Yunsung slipped off to look around the house.

Chris was the last to reach the upper level, having trudged along the passages, emotionally drained, if not physically. However, despite his sullen state, he was still the only person to notice the absence of the Korean warrior.

"Where's Yunsung?" Chris asked, glancing around the group to check that he hadn't just overlooked him.

Link looked around "Ah, crap. He must have wandered off to take a look around the house. Wesker never did answer him about whose house this is."

"I think that it may be Wesker's," Chris answered "Or at least it _was _his."

Link merely raised an eyebrow, but said nothing to the ex STARS member.

"I'll go look for him anyway," Chris stated "Just stay here and call if you see him outside or anything."

The brunet walked away from the group and glanced quickly into the kitchen. Seeing that Yunsung wasn't there, he glanced up and motioned for one of the group members to check the door opposite to the one that led to the basement.

Claire disappeared into the room for a second, then came out shaking her head.

Chris nodded and walked into the light coloured living room. It was extraordinarily tidy, something that didn't surprise Chris due to the fact that he suspected this to be Wesker's house. The blonde had always ordered things meticulously, and he expected it to carry on to his own home.

Seeing no sign of life, Chris continued up the stairs, glancing around when he reached the upper level of the house. There were four rooms leading off the room he was in, and Chris went through the rooms in order finding a bathroom, a spare room, a library/ games room and then finally a master bedroom.

The room itself was huge, stretching from the front of the house to the back and almost halfway across the upstairs landing that it was connected to. It was another lightly coloured room, the walls an off white colour but the floor was dark hardwood as it had been the landing. There were few decorations in the room.

A few shelves lined the walls with various knick knacks that had probably belonged to Wesker when he was younger, a painting by an apparently amateur artist above the headboard of the king sized bed that commandeered the attention of everyone in the room.

It was also where Yunsung was, sitting on the opposite side to where Chris was standing, his finger tracing patterns on the burgundy and silver satin sheets that covered the bed.

"Why are you up here?" Chris asked, startling the younger man.

The red head turned around and shrugged. "Got bored of waiting. I wanted to see what the rest of the house was like, and who it belonged to."

"And who do you think it belongs to?"

The red head shrugged again "Dunno. There doesn't seem to be anything personal in this house that could tell me who it belonged to."

Chris walked to the other side of the room and leant against the wall next to a closet door. "Can't think of anyone whose personality fits that description?"

He walked over to the nightstand that had a lamp on it, and pulled a drawer open, revealing a passport. He opened and showed it to Yunsung, who frowned.

"This is Wesker's house?"

"Well done." Chris snapped the passport shut and put it back in the drawer, frowning when he noticed a pile of papers near the back of the drawer. Grabbing the bundle he pulled it out, then sat in a black leather armchair that was next to the nightstand.

Gingerly, he untied the cords that were wrapped around the worn leather that was loosely holding the papers together and pulled open the front of the casing.

The piece of paper on top of the pile was a newspaper cutting…about Raccoon City's destruction, dated from eight years earlier, two days after the destruction of the city.

There were several other news clippings like this, either from the Raccoon city times about the STARS team or about the demise of Umbrella.

After the pile of newspaper cuttings, there were a few photographs. Some in black and white, some in colour. Each one held a person or people that Chris didn't recognize from sight, but merely their similarity to Wesker himself, or a guess, or a piece of scrawled writing on the back.

The first six or so were in black and white.

They were separate snapshots of someone standing on their own, apart from the first, which was of two people, a man and a woman.

Looking at the features of the people on the photo, Chris had to guess that they were Wesker's parents. The woman had darkish blonde hair from the tint of the grey of the photo, and dark eyes that seemed almost black in the shot. She was standing next to her husband, her head held high, her expression radiating open contempt, as if she couldn't stand being next to this man.

The man, presumably Wesker's father, had the same expression on his face. His colouring seemed to be exactly the same as the late Albert's, from the blue eyes and golden blonde hair and almost pure white skin. His face in general was nothing like his son's though. It appeared Wesker had inherited his father's colouring but his mothers features.

The rest of the black and white photos were all of people who seemed to be Wesker's siblings or cousins. The names of the people were written on the back of the photos as well as the years of their births: Charles 1940, Camilla 1941, George 1942, Elizabeth 1945 and Henry 1947. The remaining photos were in colour, four more of Wesker's siblings and the similarity between these seemingly younger people than the others to Wesker, was unmistakable, especially the last person.

Three of the other shots were of two women and a man: Evelyn 1951, Diana 1953 and Alexis 1955.

The last shot was slightly larger than the others, and looked more worn, as if Wesker had spent far more time looking at it. The name on the back was Alexandra, followed by 31st May 1960.

The woman in the photo was Wesker's twin sister.

There was only one other photo on Wesker's family, a picture of him and Alexandra sitting next to each other, looking up at their siblings that were born in the 1950s.

There didn't seem to be anything else on Wesker's family, for the rest of the photos were of Umbrella scientists, probably some of Wesker's former colleagues. There were also quite a few photos of who Chris assumed to be William Birkin.

The last piece of paper in the bundle was a hand written letter from Birkin.

Chris scanned the slanted spidery almost illegible writing, picking up a few pieces of information from the letter. When he came to a certain sentence his eyes widened and he hurried folded the paper up putting it and the other documents back into the leather casing quickly, blushing as he did so.

Yunsung watched the older man flushing and snorted at him in laughter.

"So what did it say?" Yunsung asked once Chris's colour had returned to normal.

Chris glared at him. "Doesn't matter. It was private and I shouldn't have read it, so I won't mention any of it to you."

Chris hurried to the door "The others are waiting…we need to get back to Hyrule."

The two men hurried downstairs and joined the others quickly, walking back to where the cars were parked quickly without being questioned. The expression Chris was wearing warned everyone it would be a bad idea to ask.

The group returned to Hyrule as quickly as possible, practically sprinting across the plains of Hyrule field in order to get to Kilik and cure the Triforce.

Upon returning to the castle, Link was confronted immediately by the King and Zelda.

"It's about time you got back. The Sages are having trouble controlling the evil from the Sacred Realm…" the King trailed off as he looked over the members of the group "Where's Wesker?"

Link scuffed the toe of his boot against the carpet and muttered "probably in hell by now,"

"He's dead?" asked Zelda, and Link nodded slowly.

"Kilik is going to help us rid the virus from the Triforce," Link stated, just as Kilik appeared from a side room.

Maxi, who was standing near the back of the group was about to rush forwards to confront Kilik, when the King announced; "We have set up a room for those who are not going to be a part of the…cleansing of the Triforce, so that you can recuperate after your trip. Kazta will show you there."

Maxi grudgingly followed the servant girl off to another room, glaring at Kilik until he was out of sight, slowly following Leon and the others to the room they were supposed to be going to.

"The portals to the Sacred Realm are in each of the Temples, including the temple of Time," Rauru informed "but they are too hard for you and Kilik to get to at the moment, and the temple of time will arouse suspicion if you are seen to be entering it." Rauru looked to the young men who were sitting in front of him.

"Therefore, each of us sages will return to the chamber of the Sages and will summon a portal in the observatory at the top of the castle. Zelda will be with you. As soon as we are sure you are in the realm, we will close the portal and it will be up to Zelda and the Triforce to get you out of there once you are finished with purifying the relic."

"What if we can't get back through?" Kilik asked, glancing at Link in a worried manner.

"The Triforce will lend you the power to get back through if you need it."

Kilik still didn't seem convinced, but he nodded in agreement nevertheless.

"When do we leave?" Link asked

"As soon as possible. You've probably noticed that most of us have gone to the Chamber of the Sages," Rauru gestured to the mainly empty chairs behind him. "I will leave now too, go up to the observatory as quickly as possible and wait up there."

The two young men nodded their agreement and Rauru backed up a few steps before disappearing in a flash of blinding yellow light.

Saria lingered behind a moment as Impa, too, disappeared in a flash of purple light. She trotted over to Link quietly, and when he knelt down to look into her face, she threw her arms around his neck. Straightening, Link held his best friend against him as she buried her face in his shoulder.

After a few minutes she pulled her head away and murmured something to him in Kokiri. He smiled at her gently as she backed off and then returned to the chamber of the Sages.

Kilik glanced at Link, trying to decipher what the expression on his was. When, after a few minutes he found he couldn't, he merely asked "Shall we go?"

"Are you ready for this?" Zelda asked, and Kilik inclined his head in answer. "Very well." She pulled the door open and stepped out into the quiet, plain hallway. She led the way up long plain corridors, then up winding spiral steps, glancing out of occasional windows for the position of the sun. It would usually take an hour to reach the open topped observatory if you took it at a comfortable pace, but they were rushing now. Not running, but trotting quickly so that their breathing was laboured enough to cause pain. When they came to a balcony halfway up the tower, Zelda ducked into it, panting, her hand resting on her rounded stomach as the other clutched the railing of the balcony.

The three people stayed in the alcoved balcony for a few minutes, until their breathing had settled back into something a little more comfortable, and then they were moving again.

It took a further 15 minutes to reach the observatory, and by then they were panting again, sweating lightly.

"So where's the portal?" Kilik asked between pants

The words were barely out of his mouth when a white circle of light arrived in the centre of the observatory, specks of blue floating in it. Link turned and smirked at the Chinaman slightly, before taking Zelda's hand and moving into the light, Kilik following close behind.

Link looked around once the blinding white light had diminished. They were right in the heart of the Sacred Realm, but it currently looked nothing like what was foretold in prophecy.

The prophecy stated that the sacred realm where the Triforce resided was basically perfect, so perfect in fact, that the sky shone gold instead of blue. Well it certainly wasn't gold or blue anymore. In fact it was almost completely black, a few purple streaks showing where cloud ended and sky began.

Link, Zelda and Kilik began moving towards the area where the Triforce was set. The once lush green grass under their feet having turned into scraggly green strands, sharp blades into melted swords. The island on which the Triforce was set, was in the middle of a lake, of which the water had turned a murky grey-brown colour, reeds around the edge wilted, and lilies that floated on the water black and shrivelled, some starting to sink into the water.

The only way across to the island was a small, rather unstable looking bridge that was made out of reeds. Presumably, when the realm was perfect, as it should have been, the reeds would have been strong enough to take the weight of almost anything. Now though, they were drifting apart in places.

"Do you think there's another way across?" Link asked, looking over at his wife. She shook her head "No, and I can't create one either. The realm suppresses my power while I'm here."

Kilik glanced at the reeds "We have to try though, and if there's no other way, we'll have to swim."

Link looked down at the murky water, not liking the prospect of swimming through it, but nodded anyway and moved to the bridge.

Along the sides of the bridge were thick, bamboo like canes, and Link gingerly put one foot on the canes, which were just wide enough for it. As he started to put his weight on it, it sank beneath his weight, tipping to one side.

Kilik immediately ran to the other side and put his foot on it, balancing out the weight.

"Zelda, you'll have to see if you can go up the middle. You might be light enough for it support you." Link informed, looking at her. She nodded and pulled off the high heeled shoes she was wearing. Putting them in one hand, she picked up her dress with the either, and hesitantly put one foot on the reed bridge. It held her weight, so very slowly, she moved her other foot onto it, sighing in relief when it held her weight.

Nodding, Link and Kilik moved forwards on either side, Zelda going up the middle.

Slowly, the trio made their way to the centre of the sacred realm.

When they finally reached solid land again, Zelda slipped on her shoes, and strode forward to the black triangle that was floating in the middle of a stone pedestal. She moved to the right of it and then closed her eyes, concentrating. After a minute or so, a very thin barrier of light came down and Link moved to the left side of the pedestal.

Kilik sat down on the floor, cross legged, and laid Kali-Yuga across his lap as Zelda and Link carefully lifted the Triforce from its resting place. Kneeling down, they set the dark triangle in front of Kilik and then stepped back as the monk gripped his staff and held it out in front of him, gently touching the triangle with its curved side. As he reached out and touched the Triforce, Kilik closed his eyes, and the second the staff made contact with the staff, the black from the Triforce rushed into the air in an oily stream before doubling back on itself, splitting in half and entering Kali – Yuga from both ends.

Link sighed in relief as the black stream that was being drawn into Kali – Yuga thinned out and eventually stopped. Kilik and the staff had been absorbing the essence of the virus for about an hour, and Link had become worried that perhaps there was simply too much of it to be absorbed.

When the stream had been ceased for a minute or two, Link walked over to Kilik and crouched by his side, watching his expression. The Chinaman still seemed to be in a trance like state. However, his eyes opened a minute later, and Link sighed in relief again that the older man seemed to be fine.

Kilik looked around the sacred realm in a sort of daze, his vision slightly bleary after being in the trance for so long. His body felt heavy, his mind still covered by an ever thinning fog, and he wanted to do nothing but curl into a ball and sleep off his weariness.

When his vision cleared, though, his main thought was that the weariness was worth it.

If anyone thought had thought that Hyrule's landscape was beautiful especially at sunrise and sunset, and there were those that had been deeply moved by it, then they would have broken into tears at the sight of the Sacred Realm.

The sky was a pure bright gold that reflected off a now liquid amber lake. The lake was surrounded on all sides by deep green hills that stretched far into the distance. The far shores of the lake were also green, but were blanketed by an expanse of bright flowers so thick that you could barely see the light green grass underneath. A few small streams pooled into the lake, pouring blue and white spouts into the gently rippling golden waters.

There was no sun in the sky, and therefore, no shadows, the whole scene tinted romantically by the golden sky, so there was only pure, vibrant colour everywhere you looked.

Kilik turned his attention back to Link and Zelda, who were lifting the Triforce back onto its white pedestal. As soon as it was in place they stepped back, and a rippling veil of protective light rose up around it again, the formerly ebony triangles returned to the colour of the sky here.

Link turned and smiled gently at Zelda, and then Kilik, wandering over to him leisurely and offering him a shoulder to lean on.

Kilik put his arm around Link's shoulders, allowing the young Hylian to support his tired body as they walked back over the reed bridge which had returned to its former strength.

Stepping into the re-appeared bright light with the two blondes beside him, Kilik smiled as the white light rose around their bodies, transporting them back to Hyrule.

He had done his job. He had saved the people of Hyrule. He had done it, and he had done it well.

* * *

Ok, bit of a corny ending, but I never was good at them. Anyway, just the epilogue to go, and then that's the end of another long saga.


	23. Chapter 23

And so the end is upon us...

* * *

Epilogue 

An uproar of cheering had greeted Link, Zelda and Kilik upon their return to Hyrule, and the group that had fought against Aaron's mutants, along with the Sages and the King had cheerfully informed them that the dismal atmosphere that had pervaded Hyrule for the last few weeks had dissipated.

Within a week of the 'purification' of the Triforce, Hyrule's citizens had returned to their normal routines and Hyrule had settled back into its relaxed almost sleepy state.

The Soul Calibur warriors had returned to their own world three days after the world returned to normal, having spent several days celebrating with the people of Hyrule.

Leon and his friends had done the same, celebrated with the people before returning home.

Kilik embarked on an almost pilgrimage like journey after returning to his world, to dispel the essence of the virus that was stored in Kali-Yuga.

And as life returned to normal in Hyrule, Link had kept watch over his people, but every now and then he swore that he would catch a glimpse of a figure watching over the town, dressed in a black suit and wearing sunglasses.

* * *

Ahhh, another corny ending to warm the cockles of the heart.

Anyway, if you have got to this point (and I mean by reading the whole story) thank you very very much for being so loyal. If you have any questions, comments or request about anything, feel free to e-mail or review me at any time... a astronomically sized thank youonce again.


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